“The economy is struggling to create jobs. The unemployment rate is low but it’s now showing some stress,” Zandi said, adding that the closer the rate gets to 5%, the greater the risk of a “reinforcing negative cycle” that can cause a recession.

The closely followed report was originally scheduled for release on Oct. 3, but it was shelved by the government shutdown.

The US economy added 119,000 jobs in September in a surprise rebound for the labour market that will complicate the Federal Reserve’s decision on whether to cut interest rates next month. Thursday’s figure was well ahead of expectations of 50,000 among economists polled by Bloomberg and the 22,000 posts added in August.

For employers, the gap between job openings and hires “raises serious credibility issues,” a MyPerfectResume career expert says.