Hiring rebounds in September; unemployment rate falls to 5.9 percent

Hiring rebounds in September; unemployment rate falls to 5.9 percent

By Ylan Q. Mui at the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/10/03/hiring-rebounds-in-september-unemployment-rate-falls-to-5-9-percent/

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The U.S. job market rebounded in September as the economy added 248,000 jobs, according to government data released Friday morning, a reassuring sign of the nation’s recovery. The unemployment rate crossed a key threshold for the first time in six years, falling to 5.9 percent.

The jobs report was sure to buoy the White House, which has been struggling to convince Americans that President Obama and his fellow Democrats deserve more credit for the economic recovery. Obama made a major economic speech in Illinois on Thursday and will tour a steel plant in Princeton, Ind., Friday to underscore the nation's manufacturing revival.

"We continue to see important and meaningful ripple effects of a growing economy," Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said in an interview Friday. "The remaining challenge now is to ensure that the rising tide that we clearly see lifts all boats.”

But Republicans were quick to seize on negative data, including evidence that wage growth isn't picking up even if the labor market is healing. Lackluster wage growth is one of the key reasons many Americans still aren't personally feeling the effects of the improving economy. The government reported Friday that average hourly earnings actually inched down one cent in September to $24.53.




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