- Summary- Nonfarm payrolls increase 263,000 in September- Unemployment rate falls to 3.5% from 3.7%- Average hourly earning rise 0.3%; up 5.0% year-on-year- Average workweek unchanged at 34.5 hoursWASHINGTON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - U.S. employers hired more workers than expected in September, while the unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%, pointing to a tight labor market which keeps the Federal Reserve on its aggressive monetary policy tightening campaign for a while.Though the 0.2 point decline in the jobless rate from 3.7% in August was partly because of people leaving the workforce, the Labor Department's closely watched employment report on Friday also showed fewer Americans working part-time for economic reasons last month."The labor market isn't just rolling along, it's a virtual steam-roller that does nothing to slow economic demand and help the Fed in its inflation fight," said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS in New York.While government data this week showed job openings dropped by 1.1 million, the largest decline since April 2020, to 10.1 million on the last day of August, there are still 4 million more vacancies than there are unemployed Americans.As a result, the labor force participation rate, or the proportion of working-age Americans who have a job or are looking for one, slipped to 62.3% from 62.4% in August."