I spend a lot of time writing about layoffs. Corporate greed. Workers getting screwed. It’s important to cover that stuff because it’s real and it’s happening.

But today I’ve got something different. The September jobs report came out and it beat every single forecast. 119,000 jobs added. That’s more than economists expected. More than Wall Street predicted. More than all 67 forecasts in Bloomberg’s survey.

Sometimes the economy surprises you in a good way.

The actual numbers: 119,000 jobs added in September. Beat all 67 forecasts. Private sector gains. Wages still growing. Not a recession. Not a collapse. Just steady progress.

Look, I’m not gonna pretend everything is perfect. Unemployment ticked up to 4.4%. Some sectors are struggling. The layoff headlines are real. But when you step back and look at the actual data, the labor market is more resilient than the doom scrollers want you to believe.

CNN reported that going into the report, everyone was expecting bad news. Consumer confidence was down. GDP growth slowed. ADP numbers looked weak. The vibes were terrible.

Then the actual report dropped and… it was fine? Better than fine?

The White House noted that almost all the new jobs were in the private sector. That matters because government hiring can sometimes mask weakness in the real economy. This time, actual businesses were actually hiring actual workers.

My take: I’ve been writing angry stuff about the economy for years. And a lot of it is deserved. But I also need to be honest when the news is good. This report was good.

Wages are still growing too. Year-over-year wage growth is positive. Not as fast as inflation was at its worst, but we’re finally in a place where paychecks are keeping up with prices. That’s progress.

Now, does this mean you should ignore all the problems? No. Big companies are still laying off thousands. Housing is still unaffordable. The tariff situation is a mess. There’s plenty to worry about.

But the economy isn’t collapsing. Jobs are still being created. People are still getting hired. The resilience is real, even if it doesn’t make for good clickbait.

I talked to my neighbor who runs a small construction company. He can’t find enough workers. Has jobs waiting, nobody to fill them. Same story from my buddy who does HVAC. His phone won’t stop ringing.

The bottom line: The job market is weird right now. Tech is laying off while healthcare is hiring. Retail is struggling while construction is booming. It’s not all good or all bad. It’s complicated. And complicated isn’t the apocalypse.

I’ll keep writing about the problems. That’s my job. But I’m also gonna call it when things go better than expected. And this jobs report? Better than expected.

119,000 jobs. Beat every forecast. Sometimes the economy surprises you.