September Jobs Numbers below 8 percent

After what can only be called a lack-luster debate performance for President Obama, the September jobs numbers reveal an interesting trend. For the first time since Janurary 2009, the United States jobless rate is below 8 percent… 7.8 percent to be exact. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, September job creation was 114,000.

Now here’s the confusing part… 114,000 isn’t enough to decrease the unemployment rate. We generally have to create just shy of 150,000 jobs for the rate to move down by a percentage point. So how did this occur? The answer is revisions. The previous jobs numbers for July and August were revised upward. July went from 141,000 to 181,000, and August went from 96,000 to 142,000.

The other reason that this jobs report is important? It’s the last full month before the election. Now that we’re in debate season and campaigns are in overdrive, many more Americans are paying attention to the jobs report. ‘BLS’ was even trending on Twitter. Who knows what the final impact of the report will be, but either way, any economic improvement is good for the nation.