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The economy lost 95,000 jobs in September, and the national unemployment rate remained steady at 9.6 percent, according to numbers released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Friday, presenting Democrats with another challenge in making their case to voters that they should remain in control of Congress.

Friday's unemployment report is the last that will be released before voters go to the polls on November 2 in midterm elections that will widely be perceived as a referendum on President Obama's first two years in office.

The economy lost 159,000 government jobs and added 64,000 private sector jobs. Though the unemployment rate held at 9.6 percent, the job losses were worse than expected.

Friday's unemployment report was at least partially offset by a separate Labor Department report released on Thursday, which showed that applications for unemployment benefits dropped for the fourth time in five weeks in a sign that employers were reducing layoffs.

Still, economists have noted that while there is some reason to be encouraged by the drop in unemployment applications, employers are still not hiring at a rate fast enough to bring down the national unemployment rate.

The monthly unemployment report is widely regarded by voters as the most significant mark of the nation's economic health -- a reality that President Obama recently acknowledged presented a difficult challenge for Democrats who are embroiled in tough races nationwide.

"When the unemployment rate is 9.5, 9.6 percent, that gives an enormous advantage to whoever is not in power because they can simply point at the status quo, regardless of causation, and say, ‘You know what? It's the folks who are in power who are at fault.' So that gives sort of a natural momentum behind their arguments," Obama said at a Democratic fundraiser in New Jersey on Wednesday.

At a briefing with reporters on Thursday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked about a new CBS News poll that showed only 38 percent of Americans approved of how Obama was handling the economy -- his lowest mark yet.

"You've spent a lot of money to find out that we're in a very tough economy," Gibbs said. "We are in the midst of, as I've said in here, dealing with 8 million jobs that have been lost, a financial calamity, a mortgage crisis that's going to take some time to dig out of."

In a separate report released by Gallup on Thursday, which was measured without seasonal adjustment, the national unemployment rate rose to 10.1 percent in September in a steep increase from the 9.3 percent rate that Gallup found in August.

The Gallup measurement found that the increase in the unemployment rate was partially offset by the reduction in part-time workers who are now seeking full-time work.

Gallup found that younger workers faced particularly challenging job prospects, as 15.8 percent of Americans aged 18 to 29 were unemployed.

Democrats in many tight races have stressed their independence from Obama and the national party and have encouraged voters to focus on local issues. But others have embraced the president to a larger extent in an effort to motivate progressive voters who turned out in droves for Obama in 2008.

CNN reported on Thursday that Obama is planning a major three-day campaign swing through western states later this month, including stops in Nevada, California, and Washington on behalf of vulnerable Democratic incumbents.