U.S. Unemployment Expected to Remain at 8.1 Percent or Rise to 8.2 Percent

Announcement scheduled for 8:30am

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. jobless rate is likely to stay at 8.1 percent or rise to 8.2 percent, economists forecast ahead of a politically important employment report Friday.

The number of jobs created in September is expected to be 110,000 to 118,000, the surveyed economists said ahead of the U.S. Labor Department's report on "The Employment Situation -- September 2012," to be released at 8:30 a.m. EDT.