After a spring and summer when the monthly jobs reports have brought
nothing but gloom, the September data are strong across the board. The
headline numbers—114,000 new payroll jobs and an unemployment rate of
7.8 percent—are themselves encouraging enough. In many respects, the
details behind them look even better.
Let’s begin with the payroll jobs numbers. As shown in the following
chart, the September gain of 114,000 nonfarm payroll jobs is
respectable, although unspectacular, especially compared with the
202,000 new jobs created in the same month a year ago. But the best news
lies not in the figure for September, but in the revisions for July and
August. Recall that July payroll jobs were originally reported at
163,000, then revised down to 141,000. That number is now revised up to
181,000. The August job gain, originally reported at just 96,000, is
revised up to 142,000. If we add the September preliminary number to the
upward revisions, it would be accurate to say that the economy has a
full 200,000 more jobs than we thought it had a month ago. >>>Read more
Follow this link to view or download a brief classroom-ready slideshow with charts of the latest BLS jobs data
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