U.S. unemployment below 8 percent
BY PAUL WISEMAN & CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER Associated Press
Saturday, October 06, 2012
10/06/12 at 6:31 AM
WASHINGTON - The U.S. unemployment rate dropped below 8 percent for the first time since the month President Barack Obama took office, a lift for the economy and his re-election hopes in the final weeks of the campaign.
The rate, the most-watched measure of the country's economic health, tumbled to 7.8 percent in September from 8.1 percent in August. It fell because a government survey found that 873,000 more people had jobs, the biggest jump since January 2003.
The government's other monthly survey, of employers, showed they added a modest 114,000 jobs in September, but it also showed job growth in July and August was stronger than first thought.
The drop brought the jobless rate back to where it was when Obama was sworn in, in January 2009, and snapped a 43-month streak in which unemployment was 8 percent or higher.
The government calculates the unemployment rate by calling 60,000 households and asking whether the adults have jobs, and whether those who don't are looking for work.
Those who do not have jobs and are looking are counted as unemployed. Those who aren't looking are not considered part of the workforce and aren't counted as unemployed.
A separate monthly survey seeks information from 140,000 companies and government agencies that together employ about one in three nonfarm workers in the U.S.
That survey found that the economy added 114,000 jobs in September, the fewest since June. Most of the job growth came in businesses such as health care and restaurants.
The Labor Department raised its job-creation figures by a total of 86,000 jobs for July and August. The July figure was revised from 141,000 to 181,000, and the August figure from 96,000 to 142,000.
Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors, called the strong employment reports "a shocker" that showed the job market was sturdier than most economists had thought.
The work force grew by 418,000, the most since February, suggesting people are more optimistic about finding jobs. Because 873,000 more people did find work, the number of unemployed fell by 456,000. And that decline pushed the unemployment rate down.
Original Print Headline: U.S. jobless rate lowest since January 2009
