Employers in the United States added 254,000 workers to their payrolls in September, the Department of Labor said Friday, and the unemployment rate dipped to 4.1 percent.
Economists had been expecting 150,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent. The number far exceeded even the most optimistic estimates. Some analysts had estimated as few as 70,000 workers would be added to payrolls.
Adding to the strength of the report, the estimate for July was revised up by 55,000 to 144,000 and the estimate for August was revised up by 17,000 to 159,000. These revisions together added 72,000 jobs.
The numbers indicate that the labor market was much stronger than it appeared to be when the Fed decided to cut interest rates by 50 basis points last month. The much stronger than expected numbers are likely to cause the market to anticipate a slower pace for cuts in the months ahead.
The three-month average, which economists see as a better guide to underlying employment trends, moved up to 186,000.
Private payrolls were expected to rise by 125,000. The government said Friday that they rose by 223,000.
The only clear spot of weakness was manufacturing employment, which contracted by 7,000 after a loss of 27,000 in the prior month.