WASHINGTON (AP) -
The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.8% last
month, dropping below 8% for the first time in nearly four years and
giving President Barack Obama a potential boost with the election a
month away.
The rate declined from 8.1%
because the number of people who said they were employed soared by
873,000 - an encouraging sign for an economy that's been struggling to
create enough jobs.
The number of unemployed Americans is now 12.1 million, the fewest since January 2009.
The Labor Department said
employers added 114,000 jobs in September. It also said the economy
created 86,000 more jobs in July and August than the department had
initially 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 7.8% unemployment rate
for September matches the rate in January 2009, when Obama took office.
In the months after Obama's inauguration, the rate rose sharply and had
topped 8% for 43 straight months.
The decline in the
unemployment rate comes at a critical moment for Obama, who is coming
off a weak debate performance this week against GOP challenger Mitt
Romney.
The September employment
report may be the last that might sway undecided voters. The October
jobs report will be released only four days before Election Day.
"An overall
better-than-expected jobs report, consistent with most recent data that
suggest the economy is gaining some momentum," said Sal Guatieri, an
economist at BMO Capital Markets, in a note to clients. "The sizeable
drop in the unemployment rate could lift the president's re-election
chances following a post-debate dip."
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% from 1.68% just before the report.
That suggested that investors were more willing to take on risk and
shift 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 number of employed
Americans comes from a government survey of 60,000 households that
determines the unemployment rate. The government asks a series of
questions, by phone or in person. For example:
Do you own a business? Did
you work for pay? If not, did you provide unpaid work for a family
business or farm? (Those who did are considered employed.)
Afterward, the survey participants are asked whether they had a job and, if so, whether it was full or part time.
The government's definition of unemployed is someone who's out of work and has actively looked for a job in the past four weeks.
The government also does a
second survey of roughly 140,000 businesses to determine the number of
jobs businesses created or lost.
The September job 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 also showed
that federal, state and local governments added 63,000 jobs in July and
August, compared with earlier estimates that showed losses.
Still, many of the jobs the
economy added last month were part time. The number of people with
part-time jobs who wanted full-time work rose 7.5% to 8.6 million.
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