Jobs, Jobless Rate | featured news

In the wake of the controversial 7.8% unemployment rate reported by the U.S. Labor Department earlier this month, Gallup today said that its nonseasonally adjusted rate fell from 7.9% at the end of September to 7.3% in mid-October. That is a new low since Gallup began collecting employment data in January 2010.

Romney senior adviser Ed Gillespie brushed past the latest conspiracy theory Sunday, focusing instead on the fact that the unemployment rate remains at a high 7.8%.

The presidential race enters its final month enlivened by two events with the potential to reshape the contest or perhaps negate each other. Soon after Mitt Romney's strong debate performance came Friday's encouraging economic news, not a minute too soon for President Barack Obama.

Mitt Romney said the July report showing an 8.3% jobless rate is a 'hammer blow' to the middle class. The U.S. economy added 163,000 jobs in July, according to a government report released today, but the unemployment rate rose to 8.3%.

California's unemployment rate dipped below 12% in September, and nearly 12,000 new jobs were created.

Jobless rates in 20 states were above the national rate of 9.1 percent in August, with Nevada's level springing up to 13.4 percent, the Labor Department said on Friday.

Private employers added 67,000 jobs, more than forecast, but governments shed jobs in August, the Labor Department reported.

The jobless rate in 39 states and Washington, D.C. fell in June compared to the prior month, the Labor Department said. Just five states saw unemployment rate increases.

The economy's 5.7 percent growth last quarter - the fastest pace since 2003 - was a step toward shrinking the nation's 10 percent unemployment rate....

The jobless rate creeps up from 12.3% in November as employers lay off 38,800 workers in December, capping a dismal year in which the state lost more than half a million jobs.

California employers cut more workers from their staffs in December, capping a dismal year in which the state lost more than half a million jobs.