Economy added more jobs than expected last month

The economy added a better-than-expected 103,000 jobs in September, the government said in its monthly report--not enough to budge the unemployment rate, but further evidence the danger of slipping back into recession is likely not imminent.

Economists had expected a rise of around 60,000.

The gain reflected the return to work of 45,000 striking Verizon workers. The Labor Department also revised August's tally to a gain of 57,000 jobs. The department had originally said that no net jobs were added, setting off concern about the prospect of a double-dip recession.

Private employers added 137,000 jobs--up 32,000 from August. Thanks to layoffs and cutbacks, the public sector lost 34,000 jobs.

The jobless rate held steady at 9.1 percent. There are still 14 million officially unemployed, 6.2 million of whom have been out of work for 27 weeks or more.