A month before voters cast their ballots, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report showing a strong labor market with growing wages, a lower unemployment rate, and the addition of 254,000 jobs to the economy.

America’s employers added a surprisingly strong 254,000 jobs in September, easing concerns about a weakening labor market and suggesting that the pace of hiring is still solid enough to support a growing economy.

It looks at the concentration of job growth. When it's above 50, more industries added jobs than shed them that month.

Ahead of this morning's payrolls report, here is a look at how unemployment has trended in recent years. After hitting a trough of 3.4% early last year, the lowest in more than half a century, the r

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that employers posted 8 million vacancies in August, up from 7.7 million in July. Economists had expected openings to be virtually unchanged. Openings were up in construction and in state and local government.

Last month’s hiring gain was up sharply from the 159,000 jobs that were added in August, and the unemployment dropped from 4.2 percent to 4.1 percent, the Labor Department said Friday.

The last two weaker-than-expected job reports set off alarms about the health of the U.S. labor market and the potential for a recession, though most economists be

Economists anticipate that hiring picked up slightly in September while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%, an outcome that would assuage any lingering concerns that labor demand is deteriorating.

WASHINGTON >> U.S. job gains increased by the most in six months in September and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, pointing to a resilient economy that likely does not need the Federal Reserve to deliver large interest rate cuts for the rest of this year.