Washington, Oct 04: US employers added jobs in September for the first time in eight months, the Labor Department said on Friday in a surprise twist for financial markets, which had been braced for more job losses. The number of workers on US payrolls outside the farm sector grew by 57,000 last month, the first time since January that jobs were created and sharply contrary to Wall Street economists' forecasts for a 30,000-job loss.
The gain was not big enough to bring down the unemployment rate, which was unchanged at 6.1 per cent in September, but analysts said it was encouraging after seven straight monthly declines in jobs.

Investors snapped up stocks on hopes the data meant a slow-paced recovery from the 2001 recession might be ending and that corporate profits will soon pick up.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 84.51 points at 9,572.31, giving up about half of its peak gains late in the session, while the technology-laced Nasdaq composite index climbed 44.35 points to close at 1,880.57.
Bond prices suffered as money shifted to equities, with the 30-year US Treasury bond off more than 2 full points to yield 5.10 percent on signs a long and deep job drought was at least easing.
Since President Bush took office in 2001, about 2.6 million non-farm jobs have been lost. The White House on Friday said the September report was encouraging but "the president is not satisfied," spokesman Scott McClellan said. Bureau Report