The United States economy lost another 95,000 jobs in September as public sector cuts outpaced hiring by the private sector.
According to the Labor Department figures, the fall was almost double August's losses of 54,000.
The jobless rate held at 9.6%, but still marks the 14th consecutive month it has been above 9.5%.
A total of 159,000 government lay-offs were made in September, with the private sector adding 64,000 positions, the weakest gain since June.
The BBC reports the numbers have raised expectations that the US Federal Reserve will take further action to pump money into the economy.
The data is in the Labor Department's final report before November's elections to Congress, when the Democrats will come under intense pressure about the state of the economy.
Of the public sector job cuts, about 76,000 were in local government, with a large number of lay-offs among teachers.
Sectors showing jobs growth included healthcare, retailing, and leisure and hospitality.
In the private sector, the manufacturing and construction industries cut the most jobs.
Meanwhile, revisions to data for July and August showed 15,000 more jobs were lost in those months than previously reported.
