The September jobs report fell shy of consensus expectations, but did not signal that manufacturing-sector woes were dragging down the broader economy. While factory hiring posted a modest contraction, goods-sector employment continued to rise.

Bloomberg economists Carl Riccadonna, Yelena Shulyatyeva and Andrew Husby, in a report issued Friday after the Labor Department’s employment report showed the unemployment rate falling to 3.5 percent, the lowest level since 1969, as reported by Bloomberg.