The nation's unemployment rate dropped to the lowest it has been since early in 2009 in September, providing a potential upbeat talking point for President Barack Obama in the days left before the presidential election.
The Labor Department reported Friday that the unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent in September, a decline of 0.3 percentage point and the lowest since January 2009. It was the first time the jobless rate has fallen below 8 percent in almost four years.
A survey of households from which the jobless rate is derived showed 873,000 job gains last month, the most since June 1983. The drop in unemployment came even as Americans came back into the labor force to resume the hunt for work. The economy created 114,000 jobs, about as expected.
"Whatever the reason, the president can now say 'I've brought unemployment below 8 percent," said CNBC anchor Brian Sullivan, as the Morning Joe panel tried to analyze the importance of the news.
Bloomberg's Joshua Green points out that aside from the September numbers, the July and August numbers were revised upward. The government said the economy generated 86,000 more jobs in July and August than first estimated.
"The fact that the revisions are upward... that's the trend you're looking for," said Green. "All in all, it's probably good news, but perhaps not enough to overshadow his belly flop in the debate the other night."
For NBC's Chuck Todd, this information might not change voters' minds. "This number has a bigger impact on the tone of the media coverage for a day or two. [According to the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll], people have a partisan way of viewing where the economy is. If you're with the president, you already believe that things are looking up and the country is headed in the right direction. If you are with Romney, you think the country is going in the wrong direction. Independents, according to the poll, have tilted to thinking that the economy is getting better."
UPDATE 10:08 a.m. ET: In a statement Friday, Romney said the numbers weren’t good enough.
“This is not what a real recovery looks like,” Romney wrote. “We created fewer jobs in September than in August, and fewer jobs in August than in July, and we’ve lost over 600,000 manufacturing jobs since President Obama took office.”
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SMH. Since January 2009. Since the time the country was LOSING 700-800,000 jobs/month. I was willing to give Morning Joe a chance. But I'm getting pretty sick of Joe. Might be time to let Mika be more than Joe's straight(wo)man and for god's sake, let the folks you invite actually talk before you think we need the benefit of your expert view, Joe.
I watched Joe this morning and was stunned to hear the implications that the Obama admin fudged the numbers. The Bloomberg guest clearly explained the numbers and Joe and others dismissed it. When the numbers were announced Joe immediately claimed that they went down because less people were looking for jobs--he said that with no information to the contrary. Then when the Bloomberg guest disagreed, Joe went into the numbers dont add up. This was an disgraceful accusation against Obama, and there was NO proof that the numbers were fudged. Interestingly, when the numbers go down, no questions the fact that the numbers are a surprise or dont add up. I think Joe needs to apologize for his comments today.
I am a sort of a fan of Joe on Morning Joe. However, i was very disappointed by Joe's disregard and down playing of a good news of unemployment rate, not great rate but signs of country moving FORWARD!!!! Joe and other GOP members playing politics find that very disgraceful I agree.
Joe wake UP!!! This is reality, OBAMA will win.
OBAMA/BIDEN 2012
GOP very pessimistic people, do they ever see the glass 1/2 full instead of half empty. I also seen Joe this morning, he was all upbeat until the numbers came out. Mitt, does it ever occur to you people that some people have retired, or possibly are doing better & 1 of a 2 family home is now staying home,. I myself went back to school & a graduated from nursing school.
Wonderful!! The unemployment rate is down to 7.8%. This is fantastic news. This is what President Obama has been saying for some time the economy is slowly growing. The economy will get better and it is moving in the right direction. The jobs report is proof of that today in that the economy is getting better. The American people should be happy and feel good that our economy is getting better. I am truly happy for our country and this is what we want to see in that people are going back to work. It will take time for the economy to get better and it is evident today that is moving in the right direction..
It saddens me that the republican are betting against Americans and hoping that the economy will continue to fail. It is truly sad that the Republican Party do not want to see the American people go back to work and feed their families. It saddens me that the Republican Party will not even acknowledge that the economy is moving forward in the right direction. I ask myself, why would another human being regardless of political affiliation want to see others suffer? I ask myself, why would the Republican Party hope to see the American economy fail? There should be no excuse for any political affiliation to wish bad on the American people. One thing that I do know is that nothing good will ever come from something bad. It is simply wrong to hope for bad to happen at the expense of others. I say please help those with this attitude and restore their hearts.
Obama has done great!!! He has done a good job for America. There has been over 30 months of job growth and 5.2 million jobs created. He has kept America from one of the worst depression since 1929 without the help of the Republican Party. The Republicans on a continuous basis has refused to help in any way to improve the economy by refusing to sign the jobs bill and refusing to sign the jobs bills for our veterans.
Obama/Biden 2012