Most Recent Posts

The nation's jobless rate ticked down to 7.2 percent in September from 7.3 percent in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday.

But just 148,000 were added to public and private payrolls. That's below the 180,000 economists expected. It's yet another sign that job growth remains soft.

We'll have more from the report, as well as reactions to it, as the morning continues. Hit your "refresh" button to be sure you're seeing our latest updates.

Update at 9 a.m. ET. Figures Are From Before The Shutdown, So Revisions Are Likely:

"The September payroll figure reflects the pay period that includes the 12th of the month, two weeks prior to the federal shutdown," Bloomberg News notes. It adds that "today's report doesn't include any late responses from employers, indicating the figures will be subject to revision as is typical each month."

Since the shutdown hurt businesses that deal with the government or depend on it being opened, it's unlikely the revisions would be to the upside.

Update at 8:57 a.m. ET. News Could Convince Fed To Hold Off:

As The Wall Street Journal writes, the Federal Reserve "surprised some investors by not starting a pullback in its $85 billion-a-month bond buying program after its September meeting. The central bank is not expected to make any changes until it can assess the full effects of the 16-day government shutdown and debt-ceiling fight on the broader economy. But a weakening jobs picture could force it to push out this date out further."

The Fed has been buying bonds to push money in to the economy and spur growth.

Update at 8:50 a.m. ET. Jobless Rate Lowest Since Late 2008:

At 7.2 percent, the unemployment rate is now the lowest since November 2008's 6.8 percent. The jobless rate is still about 3 percentage points above its recent low — the 4.4 percent of late 2006 and early 2007. The economy officially slipped into recession in December 2007 and didn't begin its slow recovery until June 2009. The unemployment rate's recent peak was 10 percent, in October 2009.

Update at 8:40 a.m. ET. Good And Bad News In The Revisions:

For the second report in a row, BLS sharply reduced its estimate of job growth in July. It initially thought employers had added 162,000 jobs to their payrolls that month. In a subsequent report, it pegged growth at 104,000 jobs. Tuesday, it said employers had added just 89,000 jobs in July.

But at the same time, BLS on Tuesday revised up its estimate of the job growth in August. Initially, it said there had been 169,000 jobs added. Now, it estimates there were 193,000 more people on payrolls.

The nation's jobless rate ticked down to 7.2 percent in September from 7.3 percent in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday.

But just 148,000 were added to public and private payrolls. That's below the 180,000 economists expected. It's yet another sign that job growth remains soft.

We'll have more from the report, as well as reactions to it, as the morning continues. Hit your "refresh" button to be sure you're seeing our latest updates.

Update at 9:10 a.m. ET. If Job Growth Was Slow, Why Did The Unemployment Rate Edge Down?

Economists remind us every month that the BLS news is really two reports combined into one. The jobs figures come from surveys of public and private employers. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, comes from a survey of households.

The data from households show that the number of adults who said they were working grew by 133,000. At the same time, the number who reported being unemployed fell by 61,000. Meanwhile, the percentage of people who were said to be participating in the labor force (either because they were working or looking for work) held steady at 63.2 percent.

All those numbers basically point to the same conclusion: the households survey signals that there was little change in the situation — but that there was just enough to nudge down the jobless rate.

Update at 9 a.m. ET. Figures Are From Before The Shutdown, So Revisions Are Likely:

"The September payroll figure reflects the pay period that includes the 12th of the month, two weeks prior to the federal shutdown," Bloomberg News notes. It adds that "today's report doesn't include any late responses from employers, indicating the figures will be subject to revision as is typical each month."

Since the shutdown hurt businesses that deal with the government or depend on it being opened, it's unlikely the revisions would be to the upside.

Update at 8:57 a.m. ET. News Could Convince Fed To Hold Off:

As The Wall Street Journal writes, the Federal Reserve "surprised some investors by not starting a pullback in its $85 billion-a-month bond buying program after its September meeting. The central bank is not expected to make any changes until it can assess the full effects of the 16-day government shutdown and debt-ceiling fight on the broader economy. But a weakening jobs picture could force it to push out this date out further."

The Fed has been buying bonds to push money in to the economy and spur growth.

Update at 8:50 a.m. ET. Jobless Rate Lowest Since Late 2008:

At 7.2 percent, the unemployment rate is now the lowest since November 2008's 6.8 percent. The jobless rate is still about 3 percentage points above its recent low — the 4.4 percent of late 2006 and early 2007. The economy officially slipped into recession in December 2007 and didn't begin its slow recovery until June 2009. The unemployment rate's recent peak was 10 percent, in October 2009.

Update at 8:40 a.m. ET. Good And Bad News In The Revisions:

For the second report in a row, BLS sharply reduced its estimate of job growth in July. It initially thought employers had added 162,000 jobs to their payrolls that month. In a subsequent report, it pegged growth at 104,000 jobs. Tuesday, it said employers had added just 89,000 jobs in July.

But at the same time, BLS on Tuesday revised up its estimate of the job growth in August. Initially, it said there had been 169,000 jobs added. Now, it estimates there were 193,000 more people on payrolls.

Five years after Ken Morganstern was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, he sat down with his daughters Priya Morganstern and Bhavani Jaroff to talk about some of the memories he had left.

Enlarge image i

The launch of a rocket carrying a record-breaking 29 satellites — originally set for early next month — will be delayed by a few weeks after the partial government shutdown halted preparations.

The Minotaur 1, operated by private space-launch firm Orbital Sciences Corp. had been slated for blast off from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Nov. 4. Space.com reports:

"But just as preparations began to ramp up for the launch, managers had to order a work stoppage Oct. 1 because the government shutdown interrupted access to facilities on NASA property, including a satellite processing building, a rocket storage complex and the launch pad."

The launch of the Minotaur 1, which Space.com describes as "a fusion of decommissioned Minuteman missile stages and new commercial solid rocket motors," has been tentatively rescheduled for Nov. 19. Space.com says:

"The Minotaur 1 rocket will launch 29 satellites into low Earth orbit, setting a new record for the most payloads ever deployed from a single rocket.

The largest payload is a technology trailblazer named STPSat 3, an approximately 400-pound spacecraft hosting five experiments to test next-generation satellite components and measure the space environment.

Four dozen more satellites will launch stowed inside CubeSat deployment pods for release once the Minotaur's upper stage reaches orbit."