Good evening. I'm Jeff Bennett.

And I'm Amna Nawaz on the news hour tonight. The jobs report delayed by the federal shutdown

shows better than expected hiring, but there are still big questions for the Federal Reserve

and more pressure from the president.

The Trump administration comes up with plans to end the war in Ukraine,

which requires significant concessions Ukraine has previously rejected. And the Trump family's

promotion of cryptocurrency raises questions of influence and profiting from the presidency.

People who are based in foreign countries and are banned from donating to the political process

in the U.S. have this new route for directing money toward the president.

Welcome to the News Hour.

Job growth was better than expected in September with 119,000 new jobs added. Those were the best job gains since April.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent, its highest level in four years, as about half a million people re-entered the labor force. The official report comes seven weeks late after the government

shutdown, making it the first federal snapshot of the labor market since agencies reopened.

But key economic data is still missing, and questions remain about the true strength of the economy.

The uncertainty now lands squarely on the Federal Reserve as it prepares to consider another

rate cut. Austin Goolsby, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, is one of the

officials weighing that decision. I spoke with him earlier today.

Austin Goolsby, welcome back to the News Hour.

Yeah, thank you for having me, Jeff.

And let's start with your reaction to the September jobs report, looking at the numbers,

slightly better than expected, solid hiring, but the unemployment rate creeped up a bit.

What's your read on what this report is actually saying about the direction of the economy?

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