American companies are hiring again at a healthy pace, adding 248,000 jobs in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 5.9 percent.
The strong report was likely to buoy the outlook of economists who had worried the post-recession recovery was being sidetracked. Those fears were prompted by the government’s report on Sept. 5 that fewer jobs were added in August than in any month so far this year.