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Jobless Rate Now 7.8%, First Time Since January 2009
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 5, 2012
Modified Oct 5, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 5, 2012
Modified Oct 5, 2012
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Here's something for your debate hangover: About 114,000 jobs were added to the economy last month, pushing the unemployment rate below 8% to 7.8%. The NY Times reports, "The unemployment rate dropped even though the number of people in the labor force, including those looking for work, increased. It was the lowest unemployment rate since January 2009, the month Mr. Obama took office."
According to the Wall Street Journal, it's a "potential boost for President Barack Obama's campaign to win a second term... In a sign of stronger growth, August and July payroll numbers were revised up—August payrolls rose 142,000 compared with the initially reported 96,000, and July was up 181,000 versus an earlier estimate of 141,000."
You can look at some illuminating charts here at Quartz. An interesting factoid noted by the AP: "Many of the jobs added last month were part time. The number of people with part-time jobs who wanted full-time work rose 7.5 percent to 8.6 million." Something is better than nothing, right?!?
Tagged
economy
election 2012
jobs
president obama
recession
Unemployment
unemployment rate
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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