WASHINGTON (AP) - Employers slashed payrolls by 159,000 in September, the most in more than five years, a worrisome sign that the economy is hurtling toward a deep recession.

The Labor Department's fresh snapshot, released Friday, also showed that the nation's unemployment rate held steady at 6.1 percent as hundreds of thousands of people streamed out of the work force for any number of reasons.

The reduction in payrolls was much sharper than the 100,000 cuts economists were forecasting. They expected the jobless rate to be unchanged.

It marked the ninth straight month that the economy has lost jobs. The drop underscores fallout from a long slump in the housing market and a dangerous credit crunch that intensified last month throwing Wall Street - and the economy - into chaos.

Wall Street appeared relieved the decline in payrolls wasn't deeper. Stock futures were strengthening, pointing to a higher opening. The Dow fell 348 points Thursday amid worries about the broader economy.

Employers cut 73,000 jobs in August, slightly less than the 84,000 initially estimated, according to revised figures. However, the cuts in July turned out to be a bit deeper - 67,000 versus the 60,000 previously reported.

The 159,000 jobs lost in September were the most since March 2003, when the labor market was still struggling to get back on its feet after being knocked down by the 2001 recession.

Job losses in September were widespread.

Manufacturers cut 51,000 jobs, construction companies axed 35,000 jobs, retailers got rid of 40,000 positions, business services shed 27,000 and financial services slashed 17,000 positions, with securities and investment firms accounting for 8,000 of those reductions. Leisure and hospitality companies also reduced employment by 17,000. That overwhelmed employment gains by the government, in education, health and elsewhere.

Cost-cutting employers are getting rid of workers as companies chafe under a slew of problems related to the economy's slowdown, a painful housing collapse and a dangerous credit crunch.

Companies announcing layoffs in September included Hanesbrands Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., Schering-Plough Corp., Alaska Airlines and Alcoa Inc.

Friday's employment snapshot is the last before America goes to the polls in November.
Mounting job losses, shrinking paychecks, shriveling nest eggs
and rising foreclosures all have weighed heavily on American
voters.
The economy is their No. 1 concern. An Associated Press-GfK poll
earlier this week showed that likely voters now back Democratic
presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama 48 percent to GOP rival
John McCain's 41 percent. They believe Obama is better suited to
lead the country through the financial turbulence.
To avert even more economic upheaval, Congress is weighing a
$700 billion plan to buy bad assets from banks and other
institutions to shore up the financial industry. The legislation is
urgently championed by President Bush and his top economic
generals.
Spooked consumers and businesses have pulled back so much that
some analysts fear the economy could stall out - or even worse -
shrink in the July-to-September quarter. Many predict the economy
will contract in both the final quarter of this year and the first
quarter of next year, meeting the classic definition of a
recession. The economy's last recession was in 2001.