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September hiring slowed to just 29,000 jobs as unemployment reached 4.2%, while the last U.S. troops departed Iraq after a 12-year coalition mission. Meanwhile, a third carrier heads toward the Middle East, Starship reaches orbit for the first time, and the Supreme Court opens a consequential new term Monday.

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Employers added only 29,000 jobs in September, according to a Friday report that showed the labor market faltered as hiring fell far short of what forecasters expected. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had looked for 84,000 new jobs, while the unemployment rate climbed to 4.2% from 4.1% the month before, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

Revisions erased 60,000 previously reported jobs from July and August, and July flipped from a gain to a loss of 10,000 positions in the updated count. Traders read the weak numbers as a sign the Federal Reserve would hold rates at its Oct. 27-28 meeting, sending stock futures higher and Treasury yields lower.

The last American and British troops departed Iraq on Wednesday, closing out the coalition mission against the Islamic State group that began in 2014, the BBC reported. Roughly 100 remaining UK personnel left Irbil alongside U.S. forces under an agreement signed two years ago with Baghdad to withdraw foreign troops by month's end.

President Trump called the exit a decisive victory over ISIS, while the Pentagon said Iraq's government now held primary responsibility for remaining threats, including IS remnants and Iran-aligned militias. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi had vowed to disarm those militias, but several powerful factions resisted his plans and could gain influence without a U.S. presence.

The U.S. military began sending a third aircraft carrier strike group and an amphibious force with 2,000 Marines to the Middle East to prepare for potential escalation, officials said Thursday. USS Theodore Roosevelt and the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group left San Diego to join the USS George Washington and USS George H.W. Bush already deployed nearby.

President Trump said he may resume attacks on Iran after the November midterm elections, with the eight-month war stalled and talks on hold after he rejected an Iranian peace proposal. Washington also sanctioned Iran's auto and rail sectors, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iran had loaded zero crude oil onto tankers during the month of September.

The Trump administration finalized new rules Monday requiring automakers to raise fleet fuel efficiency by up to 1% a year, targeting an average 34.9 mpg by model year 2031. Biden-era rules had required 2% annual gains and an average of 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031, a target administration officials argued drove up vehicle prices.

Officials estimated the change would trim about $1,300 from new-car sticker prices, and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation called the final rule an appropriate course correction. Critics, including the Center for Biological Diversity, said the rollback would increase gasoline use and pollution at a time when pump prices hovered near $4.50 a gallon.

SpaceX launched Starship from its Starbase site in Texas on Monday, and the 171-foot vehicle reached orbit for the first time on its 14th test flight. One of Starship's six engines failed during ascent, so mission managers cut the planned 10-hour flight to three hours before splashing down in the Pacific north of Hawaii.

The uncrewed flight deployed 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites, and three carried cameras to capture data on Starship's heat shield, a key piece of SpaceX's reusability plans. NASA tapped SpaceX to develop Starship as a lunar lander for future Artemis missions, and SpaceX's IPO filings called the vehicle central to its growth strategy.

Justices head into a packed new term with test cases lined up on religion, semi-automatic weapons bans, climate change and immigration, plus election law cases waiting in the wings. Arguments open Oct. 5 with a case testing whether state and local governments can sue energy companies for allegedly deceiving the public about the damaging effects of fossil fuels.

The Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act 77-22 on Monday, a bill that would grant the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption to restore eligibility and transfer limits. Lawmakers in the House are on recess until after the Nov. 3 midterms, leaving unclear whether the Trump-backed bill, opposed by labor and athlete groups, will pass.

Tennessee failed to execute Christa Pike on Wednesday despite two doses of pentobarbital, leaving her unconscious on a ventilator and prompting Gov. Bill Lee to halt executions. Prison commissioner Frank Strada steps down this month, and former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton will lead an independent review of what happened in the death chamber.

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This week brought a sharp contrast between military retrenchment and preparation for further conflict. The last U.S. troops left Iraq after a 12-year coalition mission against ISIS, even as a third aircraft carrier strike group and 2,000 Marines headed toward the Middle East amid the stalled war with Iran.

At home, September’s 29,000-job gain offered the clearest warning that economic momentum may be weakening. Downward revisions erased another 60,000 jobs from July and August, strengthening expectations that the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged later this month.

Washington also set up several consequential fights for the weeks ahead. New fuel economy rules ease requirements for automakers, the Senate’s college sports overhaul awaits House action after the midterms, and the Supreme Court begins a term packed with disputes over climate liability, guns, religion, immigration and election law.

Beyond Washington, SpaceX reached a major milestone as Starship made orbit for the first time and deployed 26 satellites, while Tennessee halted executions after the failed attempt to execute Christa Pike. Together, the stories leave the coming weeks focused on jobs, the courts, the Middle East and whether major policy changes can survive their next tests.

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The Gregorian calendar debuts as Oct. 4 skips straight to Oct. 15 in Catholic countries (1582) · Horace Rawlins wins the first U.S. Open golf tournament (1895) · "Leave It to Beaver" premieres on CBS (1957) · The Soviet Union launches Luna 3, which photographs the moon's far side (1959) · SpaceShipOne wins the $10 million Ansari X Prize (2004)

"I'm in space in a spaceship, and this is awesome!" — Brian Binnie, SpaceShipOne pilot, on the X Prize-winning flight, October 4, 2004

That’s your Sunday Five Minute Daily. Enjoy what’s left of the weekend, share this edition with someone who likes starting Monday informed, and we’ll be back tomorrow with a fresh look at the week ahead.

—The Five Minute Daily Team