US economy added 254,000 jobs in September, logging surprisingly robust growth

(CNN) — US job growth surged in September, blowing past expectations and providing solid reassurance for the ongoing stability of the labor market.Employers added an estimated 254,000& jobs& in September, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s a much higher tally& than August’s monthly total& (which was upwardly revised to 159,000) and it smashed economists’ expectations for a 140,000-job gain.The& unemployment& rate dropped to 4.1% from 4.2%, the BLS report showed.“We had a bounce-back now in September from what were relatively sluggish numbers in July and August,” Brian Bethune, economist and professor at Boston College, told CNN. “So it looks like we’re still on track. The economy is expanding and we have a very high probability of achieving a soft landing (of reining in high inflation without triggering a recession).”Robust service-sector hiring — particularly across the health care (+71,700) and leisure and hospitality (+78,000) industries — drove last month’s job gains. Service industries accounted for 202,000 of the monthly gains.Hiring was more muted across goods-producing industries. Although the construction sector added 25,000 jobs last month (a pace that exceeded pre-pandemic averages), the manufacturing sector, which employs close to 13 million people, downshifted very slightly and...