Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 171,000 in October, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 7.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment rose in professional and business services, health care, and retail trade.
Both the unemployment rate (7.9 percent) and the number of unemployed persons (12.3 million) were essentially unchanged in October, following declines in September. (See table A-1.)
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for blacks increased to 14.3 percent in October, while the rates for adult men (7.3 percent), adult women (7.2 percent), teenagers (23.7 percent), whites (7.0 percent), and Hispanics (10.0 percent) showed little or no change. The jobless rate for Asians was 4.9 percent in October (not seasonally adjusted), down from 7.3 percent a year earlier. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
In October, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 5.0 million. These individuals accounted for 40.6 percent of the unemployed. (See table A-12.)
The civilian labor force rose by 578,000 to 155.6 million in October, and the labor force participation rate edged up to 63.8 percent. Total employment rose by 410,000 over the month. The employment-population ratio was essentially unchanged at 58.8 percent, following an increase of 0.4 percentage point in September. (See table A-1.)
10.6%: Unemployment rate if labor force participation rate was the same as when Obama took office
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) November 2, 2012
Unemployment rate for Blacks increases to 14.3% shar.es/cTWYN #tcot #p2
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) November 2, 2012
Black unemployment rate more than double for whites, yet Obama will get 90%+ of vote shar.es/cTWwl #tcot #p2
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) November 2, 2012
40%+ of unemployed have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more.
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) November 2, 2012
7.9% rate. Uptick but not dramatic move R needed for last-minute boost. O dodged bullet.
— Larry Sabato (@LarrySabato) November 2, 2012
If we had a string of months like October, it would take 7 more years to get back to the Bush unemployment low of 4.4%
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) November 2, 2012
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Comments
It looks like the number were massaged again.
Including California this time, I presume?
I still think they cooked the numbers.
The economy CANNOT improve much…will likely decline further…under the Obama regime.
The fundamentals of growth have been not only ignored, but systematically crushed. And another Obama term would be far worse.
Remember all the jiggery-pokery going on to cook the number of lay-offs just before the election. That is just the tip of the iceberg.
Rags, I agree.
However, if Mittens wins, do you think that he will insist upon lowering income tax rates? Do you think that he will insist upon eliminating the estate tax? Do you think he will push for repeal of Dodd / Frank?
Yes.
Or WE will push for those things…as I figure we must in any event.
I also KNOW that the day after the election if Romney wins, the recovery will begin in earnest.
Absolutely agree. The day after Romney wins we will see a burst of optimism like has not been seen in years. It will be like a pall has lifted and the sun will shine on recovery.
Unemployment INCREASES for blacks and stays the same more or less for everyone else?
Can someone tell me why blacks are so gung ho for Øbama?
Group think, that’s why.
Many are voting for Obama for the same reason Powell endorsed him. Perceived self interest.
I can’t understand it either. Allen West said he got off the plantation a long time ago. When are the majority of the blacks going to get off?
And you can bet that 90%+ of blacks will vote for Obama.
re: “…rate for Blacks increases to 14.3%” That seems pretty high to me. Either way, they’ll be the first to petition Congress for a Federal holiday to commemorate the Presidency of Barack H. Obama and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. *sigh*
Ipso, you are too modest; you are no Christie.
The official unemployment rate being 7.9% means that the true unemployment rate is somewhere north of 10% – yup, that grifter is doing a bang-up job on the economy, that’s for sure.
Media spin will be interesting to watch. With only days to go, how hard will they work to spin it when there is little time for the truth or valid refutations to surface?
I read also that 1) immigrants (legal and illegal) have made up almost two thirds of hiring under Obama, and, 2) the actual jobs numbers for September were adjusted downwards this week (surprise!) to the vicinity of 85k from the original number around 170k.
Surely most people feel that and see the reality enough to know any positive spin is hogwash. Yes?
Is there an American institution that has not been trashed by abject politicization? We can’t trust the media, we can’t trust polling, and we can’t trust government stats.
Agreed.
We can’t trust the media, we can’t trust polling, and we can’t trust government stats.
Nor can we trust the political process. It’s worse than spin now: it’s outright bullshit. When one has to wade through the BS that is being spewed out, it hardly seems worth the effort to become informed. A citizen might do no worse by tuning out politics altogether and voting according to being better/worse off than four years ago. Which is an ominous sign.
While they tax & regulate us to protect from gnats, they shove camels down our throats.
In no small measure, it’s the legacy of George W. Bush.
He never stood up to enemies, refuted lies, or confronted dirty little conspiracies. He gave his enemies free reign while allowing them simultaneously to have their way in destroying Bush’s friends and allies.
An unscrupulous, amoral enemy, once emboldened (particularly by their opponents’ unnecessary, unilateral surrender), is very difficult to overcome.
Add from Jim
James Pethokoukis @JimPethokoukis
Context: Even if we averaged 210,000 jobs a month, we wouldnt close jobs gap until 2021
171,00 for me is no great shakes ^^ as James correctly points out.
What will voters focus on? 7.9% wrong direction.
Affirmative action, diversity, minimum wage, tax increases – all the liberal “tweaks” – are worthless in an unhealthy economy.
And the redistribution of wealth is a witch doctor cure for a pretty straightforward malady – a weak economic pulse.
Of course they’re cooked.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/915191-john-williams-on-lies-damned-lies-and-the-7-8-unemployment-rate
From your link: “What few people realize is that the headline unemployment rate is calculated each month using a unique set of seasonal adjustments… The BLS knows what the actual number is. It has an actual estimate for August, which is consistent with September, but it doesn’t publish it because it says it ‘doesn’t want to confuse data users.'”
Have no idea where the quote about confusion comes from. Here’s the seasonally unadjusted data conveniently included in the jobs report:
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t01.htm
Seasonally unadjusted unemployment is 7.5%.
Its amazing really. Tepid at best unemployment report becomes this from The Mentalists working at CNN Money
Breaking News Stocks open with modest gains following a strong jobs report. Dow adds 46 points. Nasdaq, S&P 500 nudge higher.
Strong Jobs report. What planet are these folks from?
8.0 rate of unemployment has become the bright line of unacceptable. why? who knows. The math-illeterate media likes whole numbers?
But the news that unemployment “remains below 8%” is, pathetically, good news for BO. When the real rate of unemployment is 10.6% (using labor pool when BO began his rampage)
If the current Black unemployment rate is 14.3%, what is the rate using the labor pool numbers when BO took office? I imagine that using the figure is over 17-18%.
But somehow the economy is not THE issue. Contraceptives and Roe v Wade, Global warming are the issues (thanks Mayor Bloomberg)
If Mitt wins, 8.0% will NOT be the acceptable! It will be totally unacceptable for Black unemployment to stand at 14.3%! 14.3% will be a racist number fueled by the policies of the rich Mormon which are specifically crafted to keep Blacks down! As we all know, economic numbers are a moving target!
^^Yeah. Reduced expectations.
Bottom line that folks need to be reminded: Unemployment today is higher than when Obama took office. No way to spin that sad fact
http://portalseven.com/employment/unemployment_rate_for_president_term.jsp?president=Barack Hussein Obama
Mr. President? We’ve all talked it over and we’ve decided we’d like to opt out now, based on your ‘one term proposition’. Thanks for your service, have fun, see ya.
See this page for the complete debunking of the myth that Obama is such an effective jobs president for blacks:
http://mysterypatriot.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/black-unemployment-under-obama-and-reagan/
More Spin from the former writers of The Mentalist that have found a new home at CNN Money
11:06 am: Unemployment rate moves slightly higher because job seekers are more optimistic about the labor market. More
AKA You are getting sleepy…relax and take this suggestion…your eyes are getting heavy…
Nice ‘stache, Larry S. Auditioning for porn star?
Why does Obama hate blacks so much? It’s very troubling.