WASHINGTON, Oct 3 - U.S. employers added new jobs in September for the first time in eight months, the Labor Department said on Friday in a surprise twist for financial markets that had been braced for more losses. The number of workers on U.S. payrolls outside the farm sector grew 57,000 last month, the first time since January that jobs were created and sharply contrary to Wall Street economists' forecasts for a 30,000-job loss. On another hotly awaited statistic, Labor said a preliminary measure indicated it will revise down its estimate of payroll employment by about 145,000, or 0.1 percent, for the March 2003 reference year when it issues benchmark revisions next February. That is smaller than the average 0.3 percent revisions it has made over the past 10 years. The pickup in September employment, coming in the face of recent data that painted a mixed picture of economic activity, was certain to be welcomed by Bush administration officials anxious for some signs of turnaround ahead of presidential elections next year. Democrats have been zeroing in on the drain in jobs and sharp escalation in budget deficits since President George W. Bush took office in 2001.//