Unemployment hits 44-month low in America, 7.8%

Published Oct 5, 2012 at 10:00 am (Updated Oct 5, 2012)

The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.8% last month, dropping below 8% for the first time in nearly four years. The Labor Department reports this morning that employers added 114,000 jobs in September, and that the economy also created 86,000 more jobs in July and August than was initially estimated. Wages rose in September and more people started looking for work, according to the report. The revisions show employers added 146,000 jobs per month from July through September, up from 67,000 in the previous three months. The unemployment rate fell from 8.1% in August, matching its level in January 2009 when President Barack Obama took office. The job market has been improving, sluggishly but steadily. Jobs have been added for 24 straight months, and there are now 325,000 more than when Obama took office. The September 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 showed that governments actually added 63,000 jobs in July and August, compared with earlier estimates that showed losses. Still, many of the jobs 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.