Jobless rate drops to 9.0% (updated)

Rick Moran
November 4, 2011

     I guess when you're at the bottom, any positive news is cause for hope.

     Or, if you're a partisan and need to spin anemic job numbers to make it appear that the economy is "gaining some momentum," it makes perfect sense that you would willingly put lipstick on a pig and take the sow to the prom.
     Unfortunatately, you're only fooling yourself.
Reuters:

U.S. employment rose less than expected in October, but a drop in the jobless rate to a six-month low of 9.0 percent and upward revisions to prior months' job gains pointed to a strengthening labor market.
Nonfarm payrolls rose 80,000 last month, the Labor Department said on Friday, missing economists' expectations for a gain of 95,000.
However, figures for August and September were revised to show 102,000 more jobs than previously reported. In addition, the decline in the jobless rate from 9.1 percent in September came even as more people entered the labor force.
While job growth last month was less than expected, details of the report suggested the economy was gaining some momentum.
"It's not a game-changer but when you take into account the upward revision to prior months and the drop in the unemployment rate, it's a step in the right direction," said John Canally, an economist at LPL Financial in New York.
"It's about in line with the growth you're seeing in the economy but it's not enough to break us out of the range we're in."

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