Unemployment Falls to 7.8%, But Job Growth is Still Anemic

Posted by in Blog, Featured, News on October 5, 2012 9:10 am / 2 comments

Good news and bad news on the unemployment front: the unemployment rate dropped and 114,000 jobs were created in September. However, 114k is no where near close enough to the number we will need every month to get unemployment back down to more normal levels. At this rate, it will be 2025 before we get to normal levels.

From CNBC:

Job growth remained tame in September, with the economy creating just 114,000 net new positions though the unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent.

The report presented a slew of contradictory data points, with the total employment level soaring despite the low net number.

The falling jobless rate had been a function as much of the continued shrinking in the labor force as it was an increase in new positions.

But the government said the total number of jobs employed surged by 873,000, the highest one-month jump in 29 years. The total of unemployed people tumbled by 456,000.

According to Jim Pethokoukis, the unemployment rate if participation was at the same level as when Obama took office would be a whopping 10.7% and job growth so far in 2012 has been slower than in 2011.

While it’s great more Americans are getting work, we can do so much better.

 
 

2 Comments

  1. Roger Wren says:
    October 5, 2012 at 10:28 am

    I just do not believe this report. I am sure in the next couple of days those more knowledgeable in this area than I am will look under the hood and see things that do not make sense. I have read in the past that we need about 250,000 new jobs a month to keep up with population growth. How can 114,000 new jobs drop the unemployment rate down two tenths of a point?

    Obama backing civil servants helping out the home team?

  2. Mark Anderson says:
    October 7, 2012 at 1:49 pm

    Actually, you wrecked the economy in the first place Brandon, or at least your ideas did. Roger, the two previous months were revised upward also for 86,000 more jobs so the raise is 200,000. When Octobers jobs report comes out in November, September will also go up, can’t wait. You guys can keep cheering for America to fail, but we are going in the right direction.

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