From Holden:

The new jobs report is out. Only 96,000 new jobs were created in September, while August’s number was revised downward by 16,000 jobs.

Buh-Bye George.

Companies added 96,000 jobs to their payrolls in September, fewer than economists forecast for the last employment report before Election Day, highlighting a modest pace of hiring that has become an issue in President Bush’s bid for another term.

[snip]

Job growth was held down by losses in manufacturing, retail and information services. September’s net increase of 96,000 payroll jobs was less than August’s rise, which was revised down in Friday’s report from 144,000 to 128,000.

[snip]

Economists were predicting payrolls to rise by 150,000, but were uncertain of the impact of the hurricanes on the figures.

The Internals:

The jobs report showed much of the growth last month occurred in government hiring, which resulted in 37,000 net new jobs. Hiring in the service sector continued to rise in such industries as professional and business services, which added 34,000 jobs overall; financial services, which added 26,000 jobs; and the leisure and hospitality category, which expanded hiring by 13,000.

The troubled manufacturing sector shed 18,000 jobs, the first decline in two months.