The United States lost the most jobs in five years in September and earnings rose less than forecast as the credit crisis deepened the economic slowdown, Bloomberg reported.

Payrolls fell by 159,000, more than anticipated, after a 73,000 decline in August, the U.S. Labor Department said today in Washington. The jobless rate, the last one reported before the presidential election, remained at 6.1 percent. Hours worked reached the lowest level since records began in 1964.

The U.S. economy may be headed for bigger job losses as the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression causes consumers and companies to retrench. A sinking labor market and rising borrowing costs raise the odds that Federal Reserve policy-makers will cut interest rates by their Oct. 29 meeting, Bloomberg said.

“The financial panic is a body blow to business confidence, and companies are now battening down the hatches,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com said before the report. “We’re in store for very sizable job losses across many industries. A rate cut by the Fed could come before the next meeting.”

Revisions added 4,000 to payroll figures previously reported for August and July.

The Labor Department said it was “unlikely” that Hurricane Ike, which struck the Gulf Coast last month, “had substantial effects” on payroll figures.

After today, the total decline in payrolls this year has reached 760,000. The economy created 1.1 million jobs in 2007.