WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. employers added 254,000 jobs in September, as unemployment rate edged down to 4.1 percent, signaling that the labor market remains steady, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday.

 

Employment continued to trend up in food services and drinking places, health care, government, social assistance, and construction, according to the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 254,000 in September, higher than the average monthly gain of 203,000 over the prior 12 months, the report showed.

 

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed over the month at 1.6 million. This measure is up from 1.3 million a year earlier.

 

The number of people employed part-time for economic reasons changed little at 4.6 million in September. This measure is up from 4.1 million a year earlier. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part-time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.

 

The unemployment rate, at 4.1 percent, changed little in September. The measure was higher than a year earlier, when the jobless rate was 3.8 percent.

 

After its Sept. 17-18 meeting, the U.S. Federal Reserve slashed the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 4.75-5 percent, amid cooling inflation and a weakening labor market. This marks the first rate cut in over four years and signals the start of an easing cycle.

 

U.S. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said earlier this week that if the economic data stays stable, future rate cuts are expected to be smaller than the half-percentage-point reduction in September.

 

The Fed will hold its next policy meeting from Nov. 6 to 7. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group's FedWatch Tool, which acts as a barometer for the market's expectation of the Fed funds target rate, showed that as of Friday morning, the probability of the Fed cutting rates by 25 basis points at the November meeting is over 90 percent.