Obama gets a breather

[Gob]

The US unemployment rate fell last month to its lowest rate since January 2009, figures from the Department of Labor have shown, surprising analysts who had been expecting a small rise.

Last month's rate came in at 7.8%, down from 8.1% in August.

The latest numbers also showed that the US economy added a further 114,000 jobs in September, beating expectations.

The presidential candidates sparred over the data, which is seen as a key issue for November's elections.

Speaking at a campaign event in the state of Virginia, President Barack Obama said: "Today, I believe that as a nation we are moving forward again."

Falling unemployment means "this country has come too far to turn back now", he added.

But Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said that an unemployment rate of 7.8% "is not what a real recovery looks like".

When joblessness was last this low, President Barack Obama was about to take office.

The figures are a boost for Mr Obama whose performance was widely panned in a presidential debate with Mr Romney in Denver on Wednesday

[Long Run]

It's nice to see the UE number come down, but the low jobs number seems inconsistent. We need about 200,000 new jobs a month to appreciably make a dent in unemployment (with population growth, etc.), so having 114,000 jobs is fairly weak. Think we'll need to see if there is a trend of good news before making any conclusions whether things are actually getting better.

[dales]

Not counted are the people who have fallen off the rolls.

[Lord Jim]

The only way you get a drop like that in the rate with so low a number of jobs created is if you have a large number of folks that month drop out of the labor force.

Nevertheless, politically it's good news for Obama, because the average person, (as I've pointed out before) is fixated on that basic number as an indication of the employment picture, and doesn't see any further than that.

[MajGenl.Meade]

So you're saying that if you toss these numbers twice, the chances of getting the same result are 7.8% ?

I don't believe it

[Crackpot]

FRom what I gather it's not from people leaving the workforce (those number apparently rose) But I wonder how much effect the previous two months getting revised upwards had.

Good News But Not Great.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Also, the unemployment rate makes no distinction between part time/fulltime nor temporary work.

[Gob]

The US economy grew more than expected in the three months to September, official figures showed.

The world's largest economy expanded at an annualised rate of 2% in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said.

The jump was partly due to a large increase in government spending.

The figures are one of the last pieces of important economic data before the US presidential election between Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney on 6 November.

Federal government expenditures and gross investment increased 9.6% compared with the previous quarter, while national defence spending rose by 13%. The Commerce Department said there was a jump in personal consumption as well.

A drought in the US, which was the worst for 50 years, cut farm output and took 0.4 percentage points off the GDP figures, the Commerce Department said.

[Econoline]

A drought in the US, which was the worst for 50 years, cut farm output and took 0.4 percentage points off the GDP figures, the Commerce Department said.

And surely that's all Obama's fault, right? I mean, if a God-fearing right-wing Republican had been running the country, God wouldn't have had to send His drought to punish us...

[Grim Reaper]

Or they would have at least prayed for rain in an attempt to fix things.

[Gob]

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICK PERRY, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas. I urge Texans of all faiths and traditions to offer prayers on those days for the healing of our land, the rebuilding of our communities and the restoration of our normal way of life.

My early morning chuckle for today!!

Hey Rick, god doesn't want you to have rain, so he's sent it to NY. But maybe if you beg him nicely, and sing him some nice songs, he'll change his mind.


Omnipotent beings, they like people begging them and singing them songs....

[Gob]

[Joe Guy]

Is that Obama without his wig?

[dgs49]

The jump in the economy was largely due to an increase in government expenditures.

That's really all you need to know.

Buy a nice, shiny new car with a second mortgage.

That's prosperity for ya, American style.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Nothing wrong with praying for rain. I pray to stay dry every morning.

[Econoline]

The jump in the economy was largely due to an increase in government expenditures.

That's really all you need to know.

...which (despite what Romney and the Republicans keep telling you) is just about all "the government" can do to directly stimulate the economy. Everything else (e.g., tax cuts for the rich) is wishing, hoping, and magical thinking.