QUESTION: Will the jobs report released today that shows the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent in September affect the presidential race? If so, how?
The U.S. economy broke a psychological barrier today, as unemployment fell below 8 percent for the first time since January 2009.
The Labor Department reports that the jobless rate fell to 7.8 percent, with the country adding 114,000 jobs, and the number of people who said they were employed jumped by 873,000.
The number of unemployed Americans is now 12.1 million, the fewest since January 2009.
And due to Labor Department estimates in July and August that were lower than initially estimated, employers added 146,000 jobs per month from July through September, up from 67,000 in the previous three months, according to the Associated Press via the Huffington Post.
The jobs report - part of the central issue in the this year's presidential race between Pres. Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney - comes a month before the election, as well as after a tough few days for the incumbent.
The consensus is Romney won the first presidential debate Tuesday, and his fledgling campaign got a jolt and a new life. He specifically attacked Obama's ability to spur job growth. Now, plenty of election-watchers are wondering whether today's report will slow or even stop that momentum.
For Obama, the report maybe couldn't have come at a better time. He spent much of Wednesday campaigning after his uninspiring debate performance the night before.
So we ask you, Patch users, do you think today's jobs report will change the dynamic of the presidential election? If so, how? Tell us in the comments below.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/05/jobs-numbers-republicans_n_1942200.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm It was near 16% when Obama took office.
Is this sad or funny. Should there be a warning sign when you drive over our local passes that you may be affected by short term altitude exposure. 5,000 feet. Come on!
It used to be the freeways were empty during the day, not so much any longer. I have been out in the Puyallup area helping someone look for a lost dog - I cannot believe how many people are out of work and have been out of work for a looong time (as in, no unemployment benefits long). The good thing I suppose is there are lots of people out during the day to hand out flyers to and who call in sightings. So, I call BS on officially how many people are unemployed and many people I do now are now "underemployed" after being "downsized" out of a long time job, only to see that job retitled and filled by someone at minimum wage. Same with rooms for rent, the new underclass - shocked at how many people now living out of a bedroom in strange home to make ends meet. Not kids, adults that had good jobs, moved up the ladder in the (formerly) normal fashion, that used to live an entirely different life. So after 43 months of over "8%" suddenly it goes down - Didn't earlier this week it come out again unemployment claims were up and factory jobs down? Wait, just yesterday - so really? http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/business/economy/claims-for-jobless-benefits-rise.html?_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/06/opinion/blow-dont-mess-with-big-bird.html?_r=1&hp
Frankly, for a high percentage of people, including most in Washington State, their votes are not based on what the candidate does or how he has impacted our economic health. People align themselves with a political party that they think is representative of their own ideology and they vote for the candidate nominated by the party. Period. It doesn’t matter the level of competence or experience possessed by the candidate, all that matters is the political affiliation of the candidate. It is an unfortunate truth, but a reading of the comments on this, or any other, blog make that truth evident.
We have been very, very lucky in the Seattle area with our big companies during this recession, the rest of the nation is hurting much worse. That said, a lot of locals have lost their small business and homes. If you watched the debate, Romney will change that!