Unemployment rate falls to 7.8 percent, 44-month low

WorkForce One staffer Rose Capote-Marcus works with a client, Pen Osuji as he works on job applications at the Hollywood, Fla. unemployment office. / AP Photo/J Pat Carter

WASHINGTON - The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent last month, dropping below 8 percent for the first time in nearly four years. The rate declined because more people found work, a trend that could have an impact on undecided voters in the final month before the presidential election.

The Labor Department said Friday that employers added 114,000 jobs in September. The economy also created 86,000 more jobs in July and August than first estimated. Wages rose in September and more people started looking for work.

The revisions show employers added 146,000 jobs per month from July through September, up from 67,000 in the previous three months. The unemployment rate fell from 8.1 percent in August, matching its level in January 2009 when President Barack Obama took office.

The decline could help Obama, who is coming off a disappointing debate performance against GOP challenger Mitt Romney.

Stock futures rose modestly after the report. Dow Jones industrial average futures, up 30 points just before the report came out, were up 45 points after it was released.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note climbed to 1.73 percent from 1.68 percent just before the report, a sign that investors were more willing to embrace risk and moving money from bonds into stocks.

The job market has been improving, sluggishly but steadily. Jobs have been added for 24 straight months. There are now 325,000 more than when Obama took office.

The September gains were led by the health care industry, which added 44,000 jobs - the most since February. Transportation and warehousing also showed large gains. The revisions showed that governments actually added 63,000 jobs in July and August, compared with earlier estimates that showed losses.

Still, 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.

Editor's note: This Associated Press report was posted minutes after the Labor Department released the September jobs report. It has since been replaced by a staff-written report. You can find the latest report and reader comments here.

[ongelooflijk-2009]

No doubt, Romney was the best performer in Wednesday's debate----emphasis on 'performer'; focusing primarily on generalities and dancing upon the periphery of a majority of the issues.

Although there was little if any substance in anything he said------he sure did sound good! Could have sold a glass of saltwater to a sailor marooned at sea, which is analogous to his and Ryan's prescription for a floundering economy and struggling middle class!
I hope those watching and listening realize this and know that looking and sounding good doesn't necessarily make for the best policy!
I'm not looking for a president who is the best debater but one who is honest, deliberate, thoughtful and decisive and who wants what's best for 'all Americans'. These are qualities that Obama has and Romney doesn't!
Romney's a first-class chameleon, as evidenced by his now saying he was completely wrong about the 47% and for numerous other statements in the past!
As for the 47%, did he mean he was wrong to have said it or wrong about what he said? I guess we'll never know!

[ongelooflijk-2009]

No doubt, Romney was the best performer in Wednesdays debate----emphasis on 'performer'; focusing primarily on generalities and dancing upon the periphery of a majority of the issues.

Although there was little if any substance in anything he said------he sure did sound good! Could have sold a glass of saltwater to a sailor marooned at sea, which is analogous to his and Ryan's prescription for a floundering economy and struggling middle class!

I hope those watching and listening realize this and know that looking and sounding good doesn't necessarily make for the best policy!

I'm not looking for a president who is the best debater but one who is honest, deliberate, thoughtful and decisive and who wants what's best for 'all Americans'. These are qualities that Obama has and Romney doesn't!

Romney's a first-class chameleon, as evidenced by his now saying he was completely wrong about the 47% and for numerous other statements in the past!

As for the 47%, did he mean he was wrong to have said it or wrong about what he said? I guess we'll never know!

[kandila1962]

Good Morning! You got to like these new fake job numbers. 7.8% my butt. Even the Federal Reserve said the real unemployment indicator U-6 is 14.7%. As somebody said they are even counting pollsters, seasonal and part-timers in the numbers as employed. These are not real jobs. Watch out for more lies to come! Osama bin Laden film is next. As Jack Welch said, "He lost the debate, so they fudged the numbers." That's why Obama didn't perform at he debate because he knew they were going to give him these false job numbers to give him a needed boost. But they don't add up and people can see that!! God only knows why "The System" wants this man who played 600 hours of golf and appeared 17 times on a TV show "The View" to continue to be President. We will soon see;-)

[walkthetalk]

A man that believes and worships,in something greater than himself, is good. A man that believes that nothing has ever existed, greater than himself, is bad.

[wfw3536]

In the last two months we go from 8.3% to 7.8% in the unemployment rate and then this month all of sudden we add 800,000 plus new jobs. The only problem with this picture is you would need a GDP of at least 4.5 to 5%, when our last quarters GDP was 1.3%. Something really smells with these unemployment numbers.

[Thirunarayanan]

The fact that the unemployment rate has gone down could be a result of what I call the "Romney Effect." The incumbent has been trying to get the unemployment rate down for four years without any success. Now that Mr. Mitt Romney has emerged as a force to contend with, I think more businesses are hiring people with the hope that Mr. Romney will become the next President of the US and use his business skills to promote growth. This in short is what I call the "Romney Effect."

[TrenchPress]

September Unemployment is 22.8% not 7.8%
http://trenchpress.com/?p=12406
Both parties wont say that since they want to maintain the course and do not know how to improve it.

[dfichtner]

Yeah, and the protests in Egypt were due to a film. I don't believe anything anymore.

[walkthetalk]

A lot of unemployed people, simply starved to death.

[hilario3]

Why can't the Republican party as Americans be happy that the
unemployement rate (that they created) has began to come down?
Why do they 'root' for anything and everything bad that happens
to our country? Maybe they think of themselves as a seperate
'country' within a country. I am sure Costa Rica, Panama or other
US friendly countries would gladly accept them if this is the case.

[walkthetalk]

There could be only one logical reason, for the lower numbers in unemployment, it's because, a lot folks Died from starvation.