WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs in October, an unexpected burst of hiring during a month in which the federal government was partially shut down for 16 days.

The Labor Department said today the unemployment rate rose to 7.3 percent from 7.2 percent in September, likely because furloughed federal workers were counted as unemployed. The report noted that the shutdown did not affect total jobs.

Employers also added 60,000 more jobs in the previous two months than earlier estimated.

The figures show hiring has picked up this fall. Employers added an average of 202,000 jobs from August through October, up from 146,000 from May through July. Private businesses added 212,000 jobs in October, the most since February.

“While we have to take today’s report with a grain of salt, we are impressed by the strength of the report,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG, a brokerage firm. “Given the impact of the shutdown, we have to wait until November’s report to get a fuller picture of what’s happening this fall but we’re happy enough in the meantime.”

Stock futures fell after the report was released at 8:30 a.m., and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose. That suggests investors are worried the better job numbers will prompt the Federal Reserve to pull back on its stimulus efforts sooner than expected.

One troubling detail in the report: the percentage of Americans working or looking for work fell to a fresh 35-year low. But that figure may have been distorted by the shutdown, too.

About 800,000 government workers were furloughed for all or part of the shutdown, which lasted from Oct. 1 through Oct. 16. Many were counted as unemployed.