Unemployment Edges Lower, Economy Adds 254,000 Jobs

The September employment report was far stronger than generally expected. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.1 percent, while the establishment survey showed the economy adding 254,000 jobs. In addition, the jobs numbers for the prior two months were revised up by 72,000.

This report should end any fears that the economy was heading for a recession, as some analysts had feared based on the earlier increase in unemployment. It also means that we have reversed the trend of gradually rising unemployment.