WASHINGTON - U.S. employers added 254,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1 percent in September, signaling signs of strength in the labor market heading into the height of the election season. The last several months of steady job growth have been plenty enough to keep the American labor market firmly out of recession territory, economists say, especially as GDP growth remains hardy, productivity is strong and consumers continue to spend. In September, the service sector industry recorded a surge in hiring, according to the report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But job gains across most sectors added more evidence that the Federal Reserve can stay on track with gradual lowering of interest rates to ensure inflation doesn’t rear back up. “This was a very encouraging payroll report, with job growth handily beating expectations,” Sonu Varghese, Global Macro Strategist at Carson Group in an analyst note. “The fact that inflation is easing at the same time means productivity growth is strong,…

Oct. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. job growth greatly exceeded expectations in September, giving another boost to the Federal Reserve looking to ease off on the country's interest rate.

Economists had been expecting 132,500 jobs and an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent. | Economy

The S&P 500 was 0.7% higher in early trading and pulling toward its all-time high set on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 266 points, or 0.6%, as of 9:35 a.m.