WASHINGTON _ The U.S. economy produced another month of lackluster labor market growth in September, the government reported Friday, adding just 156,000 net new jobs in a report that could give Federal Reserve officials pause as they mull another interest rate hike.
Last month's figure was down from an upwardly revised 167,000 in August and came in below analyst expectations. In addition, the Labor Department report lowered its jobs total for July by 23,000.
The revisions mean that the average job growth this year has been about 178,000, well below last year's pace of 229,000.
The unemployment rate ticked up to 5 percent last month, the highest since April, but that was largely because the labor force expanded by about 444,000 people.
In a positive sign, wage growth picked up in September. Average hourly earnings increased by six cents to $25.79 after just a two-cent increase in August.
For the year ended Sept. 30, average hourly earnings have risen 2.6 percent, well above the low inflation rate and an improvement over the annual pace through the end of August.
Job growth in the good-paying construction industry rebounded last month, with employers adding 23,000 net new jobs after shedding 5,000 in August.
And the mining industry, hit hard by low oil prices, continued to stabilize. Employment in the mining and logging sector was unchanged in September; the first time in two years those employers had not shed jobs.
But another key sector, manufacturing, had another rough month as the strong dollar has made U.S. exports more expensive abroad. Factory payrolls decreased by 13,000 in September, after a 16,000 decline the previous month.
Economists had forecast that the economy created about 168,000 net new jobs in September and that the unemployment rate would hold steady at 4.9 percent.
Fed officials are closely watching the jobs reports this fall to determine if the economy is strong enough for another interest rate hike.
Three of the 10 voting members of the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee wanted to inch the rate up by 0.25 percentage point at their meeting last month.
Although the committee's official statement said the case for a rate hike "has strengthened," they wanted to "wait for further evidence" that the economy _ particularly the labor market _ was continuing to improve after a disappointing August jobs report.
Fed Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen said that the central bank was likely to enact another small increase in the benchmark federal funds rate this year "if we continue on the current course of labor market improvement and there are no new major risks that develop" in the economy.
The Fed's next meeting is set for Nov. 1-2, but analysts don't expect a rate hike then because it is just days before the presidential election. A desire by the independent central bank to appear nonpartisan has meant the Fed rarely enacts rate increases in the weeks before an election.
The final meeting of the year is scheduled for Dec. 13-14. If Fed policymakers wait until then to decide, they will get to see two more jobs reports as they try to assess the state of the labor market.
