WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. created a modest 148,000 jobs in September but the number of people hired in August was higher than previously reported, indicating an economy on a zigzag course heading into the government shutdown.

The nation’s unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell a tick to a five-year low of 7.2%, as more people found work, according to figures released Tuesday by the Labor Department

See: Breaking down the jobs report with charts.

The long-delayed September employment report, which was supposed to be released almost three weeks ago, pointed to an economy that was growing at a mild if choppy pace heading into the fall. Yet the closure of the federal government in the first half of October rattled businesses and consumers and might put a damper on hiring intentions for the rest of the year. The shutdown could also discourage the Federal Reserve from scaling back its stimulus program for the economy until 2014, analysts say.

CalWORKs Job Fair signage is displayed during the Fall Classic Hiring Spree event at Los Angeles City College in October. Bloomberg

Economists say it may take several months to learn the extent of the damage. In 2011, hiring sprang back quickly after a drawn-out fight in Washington over how much the government spends and the level of the national debt.

In both cases, the U.S. even faced the extreme threat of default because the two parties could not agree on how to raise the nation’s legal borrowing limit.

Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast a 185,000 gain in new jobs. U.S. stocks rose in Tuesday trading despite the softer-than-expected increase in hiring, possibly because interest rates are expected to stay low for awhile. Low rates help stocks.

The U.S. has added an average of 177,000 jobs through the first nine months of 2013, but the pace of hiring slowed to a 143,000 rate in the third quarter. That also has to worry the Fed.

“We are not seeing an acceleration in the underlying pace of economic growth,” said Kate Warne, investment strategist at the brokerage Edward Jones. “It shows the job market was weaker than they expected.”

September jobs report: U.S. adds 148,000 jobs

One bright spot: The labor force participation rate, a measure of how many people are looking for work, held steady at 63.2% last month after falling in August to a 35-year low. The participation rate is being closely monitored by the Fed to determine if the labor market is healthy enough for the bank to scale back a bond-buying program aimed at keeping U.S. interest rates unusually low.

The Fed wants to see the jobless rate fall to 6.5%, but it won’t consider a lower rate a sign of progress if the decline is largely the result of people dropping out of the labor force.

What’s more, the Fed will probably be reluctant to taper its stimulus until Democrats and Republicans agree to a long-term solution on budget matters that ends of threat of another major conflict harmful to the economy. The temporary truce that ended the shutdown expires in a few months.

“The shutdown put the Fed completely behind the eight ball,” said chief strategist J.J. Kinahan of TD Ameritrade, who doesn’t think the Fed will taper until next year. “They have to see what comes out Washington.”

The number of new jobs created in August, meanwhile, was revised up to 193,000 from 169,000, but job gains in July were cut to 89,000 from 104,000. That’s the smallest increase since June 2012.

Inside the report

The increase in hiring in September was concentrated largely in professional and business services, construction, retail and government.

Some 32,000 professionals were hired last month and construction firms added 20,000 workers. Retailers boosted payrolls by 21,000 and government created 22,000 jobs to mark the second straight big increase, though all of the new hires were in state and local agencies. The federal government excluding the post office cut jobs for the 12th straight month.

Bars, restaurants and financial companies trimmed employment. Food and drinking establishments culled 7,000 jobs and financial firms eliminated several thousand positions.

Average hourly earnings rose 3 cents to $24.09, but they are only up 2.1% in the past year. Lackluster wage growth is a contributing factor to slow economic growth.

The amount of time workers spent on the job was unchanged at 34.5 hours. Hours rise when the labor market improves and fall when the economy weakens.

The fragile nature of the labor market is more evident in the so-called U6 unemployment rate that also includes people who can only find part-time work as well as those who recently gave up looking because of dim job prospects. The U6 rate slipped to 13.6% from 13.7%.