U.S. Economy Created 156,000 Jobs In September; Unemployment Steady

The U.S. economy created 156,000 jobs in September, while unemployment remained largely steady at 5 percent, according to the latest report from the Department of Labor.

Workforce participation rate increased too, and the report was hailed by economists who said the economy's recovery from the 2008 recession was continuing steadily.

"This is within the broad range of expectations," Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com, told CNBC. "The main point is, slow and steady does win the race for this recovery, which began in the summer of 2009."

The unemployment rate increased from 4.9 percent to 5 percent from August to September. Participation rate increased from 62.8 to 62.9 percent, still the lowest levels since the 1970s.

“It was solid, not spectacular,” Diane Swonk, an independent economist in Chicago, told The New York Times. “The good news is that participation went up, even though the unemployment rate did, too. Regaining that ground is very important.”

Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told Politico that the small rise in unemployment rate was "the result of more workers entering the labor force, which may reflect optimism about future job prospects and economic growth."

The further good news for the economy could strengthen the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in December.

Among other stats from the jobs report:

• Average hourly wages increased 6 cents.
• The average work week increased one-tenth to 34.4 hours.
• The number of workers not in the labor force fell 207,000 people to 94.2 million.

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