Employment Report Comments via Calculated Risk

Overall this was a weak employment report.

The decline in the unemployment rate to 7.2% in September, from 7.3% in August, was a little bit of good news, but the recent decline has been mostly due to declining participation.

If we look at the year-over-year change in employment - to minimize the monthly volatility - total nonfarm employment is up 2.225 million from September 2012, and private employment is up 2.290 million. That is essentially the same year-over-year gain as in August (2.215 million total, 2.282 million private year-over-year in August).

So the story mostly remains the same: slow and steady job growth.

Read more...Calculated Risk: Employment Report Comments