US generates 96,000 jobs in September, fewer than expected

WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (AFP) - American employers hired 96,000 extra workers in September, far fewer than expected, the government said Friday in the last major jobs report before President George W. Bush seeks re-election.
The unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.4 percent.
Jobs growth fell well short of the 150,000 broadly expected by analysts, providing ammunition for Democratic challenger John Kerry in his attack on Bush's jobs record ahead of the November 2 vote.
Kerry meets Bush later Friday for a second debate able to accuse the US leader of presiding over the shedding of 821,000 jobs, the first president to lose jobs on his watch since the Great Depression.
Bush can take comfort, however, from a Labor Department estimate that it may revise upwards the number of jobs created in the year to March 2004 by 236,000, improving his record.
After Bush took office, the United States lost 2.6 million jobs up to August 2003. Since then, it has gained 1.8 million.