The health care and social assistance sector continued to drive overall employment growth. Those sectors added an estimated 57,100 jobs in September, accounting for nearly half of the overall gains. Leisure and hospitality contributed 47,000 jobs during a month with unseasonably warm weather.

U.S. job growth accelerated in September, but the unemployment rate rose to 4.4% and the economy shed jobs in the prior month, suggesting labor market conditions remained sluggish.