US businesses added 96,000 jobs to payrolls in September in a weaker-than-expected total, the government reported.
The Labor Department report, showing the unemployment rate in September held steady at 5.4 per cent , will provide fodder for the second debate between President George W. Bush and Democratic Presidential contender Senator John Kerry.
The September job-creation total came in below Wall Street economists' forecasts for 148,000 new jobs.
Four hurricanes swept through the Southeast during August and September, which the Labor Department said likely held down employment growth "but not enough to change materially" its estimate of September jobs.
The department also said that, according to preliminary estimates, the economy added about 236,000 more jobs than previously thought in the year ended March 2004 and it will incorporate the change into benchmark revisions it issues next February.
As a result after including the projected change, it appears that about 585,000 jobs have been lost since President Bush took office in January 2001.