OK DU'ERS I know the employment numbers are good but why didn't the rate DROP

[bigdarryl]

In fact wasn't it 7.8% and now its 7.9% If someone knows please post

[JuveDem]

1. more people looking for work.

which is good.

[Tutonic]

8. Right. Look at the 7.9 or 7.8 rate as a trend

that gets smoothed out over a period of time--as it accounts for new or fewer job seekers. The fact that 171,000 jobs was shown is excellent--points to real economic growth. Rethugs have got nowhere to go with this one.

[Faith9326]

2. More peope enetering job market

Ali Velshi ?@AliVelshi

"Don't get hung up on the 7.9% unemployment rate; labor force participation rate is up; job creation is picking up well"

[demwing]

4. right, gives lie to the meme that people just stopped

just stopped looking for work.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. It Could Have Been Worse

What if a lot more people entered the workforce than expected?

[Gothmog]

3. Labor Participation Rate is up

The labor participation rate went up which means that there are more people in the work force

[Snarkoleptic]

5. Increase in the Labor Force Participation Rate

Discouraged unemployed folks resuming their job search.

[kaiserhog]

6. More people entering the labor market than leaving or giving up. Economics is psychological.

[gravity]

9. They are two different indicators

That measure different things and numbers are not 100% reliable. Sometimes the jobs number will pick up the improving economy first before the unemployment rate.

If there are a few months of high jobs growth, the unemployment rate will follow it soon enough.

[naviman]

10. What everyone else said plus

Fewer people on part time jobs.

[scheming daemons]

11. 600,000 people rejoined the workforce (because of OPTIMISM!)

This is a good thing.

[Ace Rothstein]

12. Different Surveys

I believe the unemployment rate is based on an employer survey and the jobs numbers are based on a household survey. (I may have this backwards.) They aren't always going to jive as you saw last month as well. The jobs numbers weren't as good last month but the unemployment rate fell drastically.

[My Good Babushka]

13. I heard there were public sector job losses

again.

[naviman]

14. 13,000 losses

[BainsBane]

15. The two surveys are different

BLS does two surveys every month. They do a survey of households to determine the unemployment rate and a separate survey of business establishments to determine the numbers of jobs added. As a result, numbers can track a bit differently. You'll notice that in recent months, job numbers have been revised upward.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

[VirginiaTarheel]

16. More People looking for/entering labor Market=Optimism Increasing

People sense things are better and going back out to look for jobs. The other indicators (consumer confidence) reflect this optimism.