Temporary help payrolls fell by only 1,700 jobs in September after having fallen by 6,900 in August, according to seasonally adjusted preliminary numbers released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The decreases are down from the average monthly loss of 44,000 over the past 12 months.

Year over year, temporary help payrolls were down 527,600.

The temporary help penetration rate was 1.33% in September compared with 1.32% in August.

Temporary job losses as a percent of total job losses were 6.5% in September.

However, the employment services industry added 8,000 jobs in September after losing 11,000 in August. The industry lost an average of 49,000 jobs per month for the last 12 months.

Total U.S. nonfarm payrolls fell by 263,000 in September, compared with 201,000 in August.

September's job loss was more than expected. Wanted Technologies earlier this week estimated a loss of only 167,000 jobs, and The Los Angeles Times reported analysts had expected a drop of between 170,000 to 190,000 jobs.

The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 9.8% September from 9.7% in August.

In construction, employment fell by 64,000 jobs in September; that compares with average monthly job losses of 66,000 from May through September. The average monthly loss in construction was 117,000 per month from November to April.

Employment in manufacturing fell by 51,000 in September. Manufacturing job losses had averaged 53,000 per month for the last three months. However, the average monthly job loss from October through June was 161,000.

Healthcare gained 19,000 jobs in September, but the average monthly gain in 2009 in healthcare of 22,000 jobs is down from the average monthly gain of 30,000 in 2008.

The seasonally adjusted college-level unemployment rate rose to 4.9% in September from 4.7% in August.