US adds 156,000 jobs in September, missing expectations

The US economy added 156,000 new jobs in September, the smallest gain since May, the Labor Department said Friday. This reading missed expectations of a 175,000 gain.

The unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 5.0% from 4.9% in August. This was the first increase since April, although  that was mainly because more than 440,000 people started looking for work.

Prior months figures were revised, with revisions practically offsetting themselves. US economy created 167,000 jobs in August, up from the previously reported 151,000 jobs and  added 252,000 jobs in July, down from 275,000 initially estimated.     

Hourly pay rose 0.2% in September to $25.79 an hour. Over the past year hourly wages have climbed 2.6%.