The U.S. economy added 114,000 workers in September as the unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent, representing the lowest such mark since President Obama took office.
Additionally, revisions made by the U.S. Department of Labor to its July and August employment estimates ”“ the latter of which is nearly always revised upwards ”“ added a total of 86,000 jobs to payrolls.
The report caught analysts off guard: the median estimate of 92 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had predicted the unemployment rate would rise to 8.2 percent.
Payroll data and the unemployment rate are derived from two separate sources.
While the payroll data showed private sector employers added 104,000 jobs and government employment increased by 10,000 in September, a household survey conducted by the Labor Department showed an 873,000 increase in employment ”“ the biggest such increase since June 1983.
Of those, approximately 582,000 workers took part-time positions, the survey showed.
