Payrolls grew at their fastest pace in the United States in six months as the unemployment rate inched down, according to labor estimates for September.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 254,000 and the jobless rate edged down a tenth of a point to 4.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

Payroll estimates and the jobless rate are based on the results of separate business and household surveys, respectively.

The September payroll gain was the largest since March and exceeded the average monthly gain of 203,000 over the past year.

Initial estimates for payroll increases for the previous two months were revised upward 72,000 to 159,000 for August and 144,000 for July.

For September, 6.8 million people were counted among those unsuccessfully looking for work. Of those, 1.6 million had been out of work 27 weeks or longer — nearly a quarter of all unemployed people. The number of people out of work for less than five weeks decreased 322,000 to 2.1 million.

Another 4.6 million people were counted among those working part-time because their hours were reduced or they were unable to find full-time positions.

The number of people not in the labor force who want a job remained unchanged at 5.7 million. They were not counted among the unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the four weeks preceding the survey of were unavailable to accept a job.

The number of people deemed marginally attached to the labor force increased 204,000 to 1.6 million.

The labor participation rate — the proportion of the population working or looking for work — remained unchanged at 62.7 percent for a third straight month.

Payroll gains for September were spread out among industry sectors. Employment increased 69,000 at food and drinking places, 45,000 in health care, 27,000 in social assistance and 25,000 in construction. Government payrolls increased 31,000. Employment was little changed in other industry sectors.

The average workweek for employees on private, nonfarm payrolls slipped a tenth of an hour to 34.2 hours. The average manufacturing workweek held steady at 40 hours.

Average hourly earnings for employees on private, nonfarm payrolls increased 13 cents to $35.36. Over the past year, wages increased 4 percent.