Unemployment Falls to 7.8%

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   Ralph Deedsposted 12 years ago

   The nation’s employers added 114,000 jobs in September, a modest showing that was less than the previous month. But the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 percent from 8.1 percent, the lowest since Obama took office in January 2009.
   
   http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/06/busin … -8.html?hp

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      habeeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Income has risen slightly, too. Good news!

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      Ericdierkerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      The numbers are barely a seasonal uptick. Look at the numbers for "ineligible" for unemployment benefits and Number of employees discharged. Note that foreclosures are on the rise again.
      
      With all that said -- hooray for any good numbers - and Obama's approach to the new numbers is spot on.  The only thing we have to fear is pessimism.

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      Sooner28posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You mean Obama hasn't destroyed the globe yet? :p

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      Patty Inglish, MSposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      This is interesting, because sources I check daily for advertized job numbers show an additional 1,400,000 job listings advertised October 2 - October 5, over the total numbers consistently advertized January 2009 - September 2012; US is up to 5 Million openings - not enough, but climbing suddenly. That seems a lot of additional jobs around the date of the first Presidential Debate. I hope it continues.

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      Credence2posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Kudos to the president as it helps him compensate to a less than stellar debate performance. The right are now looking for more conspiracy theories to explain these new numbers as incredulous. At this time they are looking pretty ridiculous as the source of this information was not questioned as long as the data was negative for the administration. Such disingenuous and two faced people, never to be trusted with power at any level!!

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         habeeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         If that was in reference to my comment, I didn't know that ABC subscribed to conservative conspiracy theories. lol

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   rebekahELLEposted 12 years ago

   Nice, and yes, the private sector is adding jobs.  I recently left my job for a better opportunity in a brand new state of the art facility and received almost a 30% pay increase.  Good paying jobs are out there. 
   Good networks are important.
   
   I'll point out this position is professional and requires a degree and intermediate technology knowledge. Basic computer knowledge is now a given with most employers.  Those without it will be left behind.  Take classes to gain the necessary knowledge.

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   Stacie Lposted 12 years ago

   This new employment numbers are indeed good news and hopefully not a temporary condition.
   The holiday season has already started with major retailers hiring as well .

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   JaxsonRaineposted 12 years ago

   This is interesting... 100,000 to 125,000 new jobs are needed just to keep up with population growth, which is why we haven't seen much movement in either direction with so many reports around the 100,000 mark.
   
   But, the unemployment rate isn't calculated from non-farm payrolls, it's calculated from the household survey, where they call 60,000 households and ask questions.
   
   So we created enough new private-sector jobs to keep up with population growth, but we also have 800,000 more people working according to the household survey, which includes self-employed individuals. It will be interesting to watch the household numbers over the next few months.

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      JayeWisdomposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      One factor offsetting population growth is the large number of Baby Boomers that are retiring and will be doing so over the next few years. There was a period of reduced births after the Boomer years, so there was a worry among hiring managers during the last decade that there would not be enough applicants for jobs available.
      
      Of course, the factor that threw a monkey wrench into the entire situation was massive off-shoring of U.S. jobs, the prime cause of joblessness in this country today. The blame belongs to greedy CEOs and other execs who get paid not only huge salaries (much more than any of them are worth), but big bonuses, stock options and other perks that translate into $$ and add millions to their overall compensation. If they can exploit cheap overseas labor--avoid paying a living wage and benefits to workers in the U.S.--they increase profits.  It's an obscene, unethical practice, and the people who benefit from it are all...Republicans. You won't find a single Democrat among these greedy, money-obsessed corporate monsters! Meanwhile, ordinary people in America are struggling.

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         Jean Bakulaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I can't swear that no Democratic manager sent jobs overseas, but I'm sure there are less of them than Republicans. I think any company who sends jobs overseas to pay people an awful wage should be taxed. I also agree with you that CEO's don't need millions of dollars of perks, they most likely don't do much anyway. My R friends claim that jobs such as fixing jobs and bridges only employs transients or *gasp* illegals, but I find that untrue. Our infrastructure is getting old and our bridges are in bad shape. We have enough people out of work, why not let them work on things like that? Summer would have been a good time. In my town and local ones, suddenly almost every road is being "fixed", now that it's already October. When we look at how badly our local governments work, it's no wonder the country is in such a mess.

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         habeeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I'm confused. Are you claiming there are no greedy Dems, or no Dems who sent jobs overseas?? If it's the first, that's the epitome of hyperbole and naivete. If it's the second, you know that some of our Dem leaders have sent jobs overseas.

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   jacharlessposted 12 years ago

   Wow, jobless claims are down that much?
   Wonder if folks are actually getting work, if this is simply because of seasonal/temp work -holidays and all- or full time employment.

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      Ericdierkerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think those Unemployment rates are skewed by those who can no longer claim benefits.
      If the numbers are truly from a household survey poll, rather than government records, that is a whole different set of parameters.

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      Sooner28posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Seasonal matters a little, but if you remember the last three years, seasonal employment did very little to move the notch downwards.

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         jacharlessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         True. The online movement is changing the face of the retail industry quickly and dramatically.
         Also forget to add the bit about those who benefits have expired and can no longer file a claim.

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            mattforteposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Job this job that. My girlfriend and I just relocated to a new town. The first day out looking for jobs was the best search I've ever had. So many jobs available...so many places saying "yes we are hiring." For every no we got 3 or 4 saying yes. I'm actually in a position where I may have to pick between several job offers...one of which may be making upwards of 100k/year.
            Craigslist is always full of jobs.
            Now Hiring signs are everywhere.
            
            The oil industry has so many jobs available they're having a hard time building fast enough for new hires in some states.
            
            Unemployment rates going up imho are a sign of people not looking for new jobs (taking as much unemployment as possible) and statistical manipulation.
            Unemployment rates going down imho are a sign of people's benefits running out, and statistical manipulation.
            
            It's all just a bunch of bull. "Unemployment rates" shouldn't matter to the individual. Either you have a job, or you're looking for a job. And if you're looking..the rate still doesn't matter - all that matters is whether or not you find a place hiring. The stats are just a tool for politicians to use to influence people's opinions.

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               jacharlessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               No doubt. I am always doing both -working and looking for work -especially through CL, Freelancer -even Github. Honestly, have not been in the "concrete jungle" job market in a few years, so am out of the loop there.

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                  Ericdierkerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Jacharless you lift us up. That old jungle is a fun place to visit but not one to get caught up in -- kinda like the Amazon.

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   readytoescapeposted 12 years ago

   The question really is how many jobs can we continue to lose. We’ve had years of the marketplace profusely bleeding hundreds of thousands of jobs monthly, how many more jobs are left to lose, yet “new” unemployment claims keep coming in.
   
   Compare how many jobs over the past 42 months have been lost in total since the down turn started when Obama clinched the nomination in 2008. Millions are out of work and losing their homes. The majority of the employed are not even counted in these figures since they are no longer on the Unemployment benefit rolls.
   
   These are not good numbers. The size of the workforce is constantly rising each year with more workers entering than leaving. Relying on unemployment numbers as an economic indicator is a false leader, recovery will not really occur until the numbers of the working recover to 2007 levels.
   
   What is worse is it is pretty obvious that this month’s numbers have been “gamed” for political benefit. Analysts have been identifying discrepancies and tearing them apart all day.
   
   The real numbers show “real” unemployment over 20%, today’s skewed numbers plus the 14.2% that have completely left the job force or are underemployed or are working part time jobs out of economic need.
   
   7.8% + 14.2% = 22% of the American workforce is either out of work or working in jobs that barely or do not fulfill their needs. These numbers are in line with the increase in food stamp assistance. These are not good numbers.

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      Josakposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      ILO unemployment which is U3 unemployment the one currently at 7.8% is fine as a guide to how many motivated people there are looking for work unable to find any (meaning they have looked for work in the last 4 weeks) people who have not looked for work in the last 4 weeks are in a very different category but U4 unemployment has been falling too so it's largely irrelevant.

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   habeeposted 12 years ago

   I'm sort of confused after reading an article on ABC, though. It said participation is at just 63% - the lowest in 20 years. Ugh. People who have given up aren't counted. (Thanks for the link, AV.)
   
   http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/oct … amp;page=2

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