US employers added 103,000 jobs in September, a modest burst of hiring after a sluggish summer. Still, job growth remains too weak to lower the unemployment rate, which stayed at 9.1 percent for the third straight month.
The US Labor Department also said Friday that it has revised the previous two months to show that companies hired at a stronger pace than first estimated.
Employers have added an average of only 72,000 jobs in the past five months. The economy must create about twice as many consistently just to keep up with population growth.
Nearly half of the gains last month were due to the rehiring of 45,000 striking Verizon employees.
The private sector added 137,000 jobs in September, up sharply from August but below July’s revised total. Government shed 34,000 jobs. Local governments cut teachers and other school employees.
Job gains occurred in construction, retail, temporary help services and health care. Manufacturing cut jobs for the second straight month.
The department revised August’s figures to show a gain of 57,000 jobs, up from a previous estimate of zero. July was revised up to 127,000 jobs, from 85,000.
Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr.