Because he LOOKS presidential? We're entitled to our political slants, but....wow. If he gets elected, check Mitt in 2 years, see how that confident Mad Men look holds up. (Hint: it won't. The office has worn down every man who occupied it and lived to tell.)

The fall in the unemployment numbers seems a little strange. Only 114,000 jobs were added and the number falls that much? To have that big of a drop, you would have needed to add about 450,000 jobs. The numbers just don't add up. A 114,000 increase in jobs should have actually raised the unemployment number from 8.1% to 8.2%.
Look at past job reports where the number of jobs added was higher than 114,000 and see what the unemployment number did. Did it go down?
You say the drop to 7.8% from 8.1% is not big? It is the fastest drop in unemployment in almost 30 years. It seems funny that not one economist predicted such a drastic drop.

It'a not funny Tired it's fricking hilarious!!! What's with the Orioles making the playoffs for the first time in 15 years? Not one baseball commentator or sports writer predicted such a comeback!!!! There must be a conspiracy right?

So the right has hammered him on the job reports for months... and he (obama) skews them in past months to make himself look bad? Or were the previous months, when they fit your story, accurate?
Info make obama bad= truth
Info make obama good= Liberal lies and propaganda

Billable Liberal Hours...you are incorrect. The GDP growth is still at 2.0% and with a fiscal cliff forthcoming in January 2013 from the Oblamer dictatorship..hopes of this economy rebounding are null and void. King Oblamer knows nothing about the economy other than spending trillions of our money and using taxpayer's money to invest in with 7 energy companies all of which went bankrupt.King Oblamer is just not able to run a country and therefore will lose this election due to his incompetency. Cannot wait until the Ryan/Bite me Biden showdown....another winner for the Romney team!

Funny most of the BLS are Obama donors' hummmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Lois why would "most of the BLS are Obama donors"? The BLS are not private individuals. Just make up anti-Obama crap and you think half the country will believe it. The scary part is they will and if you don't believe me, just ask G. Ryan.

I can tell you how! It seems that those numbers are really just polls! They call up a bunch of households and ask, "are you working at all?" They are not based on actual tabulated records from government departments. To skew the poll, all one needs to do is poll an area that is known to have lower unemployment! ...like Washingtion, D.C. where everyone works for an ever expanding government. I would like to see a list of area codes and exchanges that were used to take the survey. The real unemployment rate is still at 14.9%. Those on the unemployment roles plus those that have run out their unemployment benefits. 23 Million Americans are still out of work! You would have to create at least 250,000 to 350,000 jobs each month just to keep up with the birth rate. If anything, the number ticked down because of "Seasonal hiring." I know the Atheists are upset about this, but it is almost Christmas! Business' are hiring temporary full and part time employees to get the business through the Holiday Season! Next January or February, when the temps are all laid off and the unemployment rate spikes, they won't remember Obama touting this drop as "his policies starting to work" and question whether or not his premise was real or just a lucky break in the business cycle.

First off, the jobs number do not come from polls, they are based on information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which cannot be manipulated by the President or anyone else. Please read the article below.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/10/05/september-jobs-report-debunking-the-jobs-report-conspiracy-theories/

BTW, there are not 23 million people that are unemployed, that number is 12.1 million people. There are another 11 million people underemplyed, so when you combine the two together, it makes for good political fodder. Either way the numbers are not good, but let's be happy with the improvement.

Now the real question for the Obama haters, would you rather see the numbers improve and the country be on the road to recovery, or would you rather see the numbers go further in the tank, harming the country just to ensure "King Oblamer" doesn't get re-elected?

Because it is more complicated than adding 2 benchmark numbers together and expecting a common comparison.

Most of the gain comes from a revision in the Jul and Aug numbers (+141,000 to +181,000, +96,000 to +142,000 respectively). Revisions like this usually happen in a growth phase because construction jobs are under-estimated at the time they are counted.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

The 14.7% that Robert is quoting is for U-6. It is not 'real unemployment' as he claims. It is a measure of part-time and marginally attached workers, added into the 'official' unemployment rate(U-3). U-6 also includes people NOT looking for work, and not wanting/needing to work. It is never claimed by anyone other than sensationalists as the 'real' unemployment rate, as that is not its definition nor its internal makeup. You can see this here;
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm

I give you links to support my claims, so you can verify what I am saying. I would be suspicious of anyone who tells you how 'bad' they see things, without providing any evidence to support their claims. Usually, they are hiding something. In this case, they are hiding their lack of understanding of what these metrics mean.

Tim and the right doesn't want to believe the results because they just lost one of their biggest talking points.

"Tim and the right"?

Are you so confused by what was posted, that you think I am a right wing Republican?

Perhaps this link would be more helpful to you;
http://www.jjc.edu/academics/divisions/arts-sciences/english-world-lang/international-education/Documents/ECON%20103%20-%20Principles%20of%20Economics%201.pdf

Seasonal hiring does not show up in employment numbers until at least October, which would not be released until the beginning of November. Even then, the bulk will show up in the November report, which is released in December. It has been like this for decades, with results showing up in the November report only recently appearing. While retailers will usually announce hiring in the last week of Sep, the actual hires are not done until October.

The Employment population ratio has to be taken in context as well, because its previous cyclical highs, are what are now its cyclical lows. Most of the change has come as more women entered the workforce, but there are other factors as well. Without using the proper context, you can easily be misled using this ratio, and it looks like you have.

If you have an issue with the BLS numbers, then you surely have come across the ADP job report which is released by a private company(that does payroll nationwide) which shows an even larger increase of 162,000 jobs;
http://www.adpemploymentreport.com/

As was mentioned above, things are on a trendline of improvement. It is obvious, and it is very real. While there is still plenty of room for improvement, what is currently going on is better than anyone could have expected.

Do you not like that jobs are being added? Is the problem that it isn't happening fast enough, even though the current pace is one of the fastest? What exactly, would satisfy you?

The big number that you should look at is the labor participation rate of 63.6%! (that comes directly from the data on Tim's suggested site!) It has not changed!!! That means that out of the total labor force that is in this country, slightly less than 2/3 is participating. If full employment is considered 5% unemployed or less, then there are a lot of unemployed people out there that need jobs! Creating less than 150,000 Jobs/month will not supply jobs to keep up with the birth rate. Also, Tim, as I mentioned...the site that you mention is "Household Survey Data" and confirms what I said previously. They call a bunch of households and ask if they are working. They are not calling millions of households to get those numbers. They are not going to the IRS and checking on who is paying taxes and who isn't. They are taking samples. It may not be an accurate poll. Areas with lower or higher unemployment rates could skew the sample. Some people that answer the phone might lie about their circumstances...either for better or for worse. Always remember and never forget...when it comes to statistics, "Figures never lie, but liars always figure!"

I still say the tick down in unemployment is most likely due to seasonal hiring for the holidays and will likely go back up in January!

Sorry Tim,
I didn't mean to include you with the right I meant:
Tim, the right doesn't want to believe the results because they just lost one of their biggest talking points.and shouldn't have been there.

Funny trends...

Jobs added 114,000, not enough to keep up with population growth and unemployment goes down one month before the election...funny

Obama kills binladen- He didn't, Seal team 6 did after years of hard work by many others before Obama was in office.

US ambassador killed in Libya- Obama's fault. well you got that one right. Maybe if Obama wasn't too busy with fundraisers and TV appearances, he would have seen the reports warning of possible terrorist attacks on the anniversary of 9/11.

Lets not ignore Obama's use of military force in Libya, because if Obama's name was Bush, it would be called an illegal war by you and others. The same thing goes for the drone attacks Obama is ordering in Yeman. We are not at war with either country and Obama is using our military to attack. Guess he forgot about that Nobel Peace prize.

Quite obvious you didnt understand my post and its sarcasm. I keep forgetting your comprehension skills are lacking.... but thanks for proving my points of the double standards u live by... im assuming you didnt read tims post...

I understood your post and your attempt at what you call sarcasm.
You see, COB, I have grown up in Cook County and I have seen firsthand what happens when Democrats are in control. If you could see past the talk, you would see what will happen to this country if a Chicago democrat is allowed to continue. Look at how this state is doing and remember where Obama learned his political lessons.

Oh yeah, I read Tim's posts, but I think I read them on a different site. I could say that I read them word for word on another site. Tim is really god at posting what other people say.
One of the things that he forgot to mention is that the BLS no longer counts 2.5 million people that wanted to and were able to work as unemployed because they had given up looking for work for four weeks or more.

That link shows one person. One person who currently works at the BLS donated a grand total of $2,000 to Obama. One person, who has absolutely nothing to to with the release of these numbers, and whos main duties involve publishing research papers;
http://www.bls.gov/ers/publications.htm#frazis

2,500 people work there;
http://www.bls.gov/jobs/aboutbls.htm

Lois, There is something very wrong with your worldview if you are working this hard to find conspiracies everywhere.

Why did you not include ALL of the donations made by all BLS employees?
http://i.imgur.com/ukY9P.jpg

I'm sure most already know why you didn't post that(or didn't even know that).

Lois, when you hear someone make a claim your next step should be to verify it and any of its counter arguments. Not only will you hone your critical thinking skills along the way, you will be able to see for yourself who is or is not lying to you. This will help you in many areas of life besides politics.

You should never repeat what you have heard someone else say just because you want to agree with the subtext of their statement.

As a famous Republican once said-
"Trust, but verify"

And we must not forget Obama's pastor, Jeremiah Wright who he paid off with cash to keep quiet. Jeremiah Wright gave Obama "the inflammatory rhetoric cause stating that America's chickens are coming home to roost and we should all not be singing God Bless America but God ---- America". Just another reason why he needs to be removed from the White House.

Yes, he is.

Interesting how Romney and the republicans have been beating Obama over the head(calling him a failure) about the BLS statistics being over 8%. Now that they are at 7.8% somehow the statistics don't mean so much, they are misleading, purposely slanted in the presidents favor or they aren't important as how we perceive the economy.

The unemployment rate is compiled from household and/or in individual surveys so without an validity or reliability component supported in a quantitative analysis statistically the data collected most likely can and could be manipulated. It is obvious, the numbers are being spun in a way to make Pres. Obitter look like his policies have been working but they have not been working. I am curious however, where are all the jobs he promised to create with his genius Stimulus package and all the "green"jobs he was going to create? No, Obitter wants to move "Forward" away from our great Constitutional Prinicples and American heritage that makes this great country great and which it was founded on. The unemployment rating was just his reaction and manipulation to his poor lazy performance at the Debate. The GDP(gross domestic product) remains low and this is the best economy indicator. No sorry,Liberals it is not a new "feel good" drug. And Russ and Stoned, Obitter is a failure in all presidential departments. He cannot even attend a meeting and perhaps if he would attend a debriefing meeting it could of prevented 4 murders in Libya!

If you are going to claim to know so much about statistics, than you need to back up your claims of manipulation with actual evidence. From what I can see in the BLS numbers, there is no such manipulation as you are claiming.

Show your work. It will be interesting to see which stochastic calculus method you chose to use to arrive at your conclusion.

This is how it works;
Observation->Hypothesis->Prediction->Experiment->Conclusion
This is what you are currently doing;
Observation->Hypothesis->Conclusion

This is taught in 8th grade, if not earlier. Back up your claims, with evidence, otherwise nobody is going to believe you anymore than the crazy guy at the offramp.

GRyan, you ask where all the green jobs are? Take a walk into any local junior college and sign up for the tens of thousands of jobs waiting for wind turbine technicians.

Take a drive about 2 hours south of Chicagoland to see wind turbines from horizon to horizon. Or take a trip 2 hours west of Chicagoland to see exactly the same thing. Take a trip to other states to see these jobs all across the country. The jobs that are being created are ones that require a higher level of education than banging a cookie-cutter house together which was the house of cards our economy was previously based on. If you are confused because you don't see the same low-skill jobs coming back, then you need to look at the higher skill workforce. HighTech fields currently have a ~3.8% unemployment rate.

If you want to see bad things, you will see bad things. But that is just your view of the world, there are plenty of people who chose to better themselves and are currently seeing not only steady work, but better paying work. Education is the key, but we as a country seem to have embraced anti-intellectualism and wonder why we have such structural problems.

Tim, the unemployment rate figures can be manipulated because the numbers are gathered based on surveying. Therefore, validity and reliability components are ignored. I like how you take what I have indicated and twist it. If the numbers are collected based on surveys of course they can be manipulated because validity and reliability cannot be proved. That is the point stated twice. So where is the control groups and independent variables in your theory the numbers are accurate?

You can make claims all day long, but until you prove otherwise, there is no reason for anyone to take you seriously. No amount of talking about what you 'think' is happening will make it true. The 'control groups', as you mistakenly call them, is every series of data since 1950 that has been released up until this point. If your claims are true, you should be easily able to show the deviation in the current numbers. You can't though, because what you are claiming, is actually a word salad of technical terms that you don't even understand.

A Hypothesis is not the same as a Conclusion.

Follow the steps in the scientific method posted earlier, and show why your claims are substantiated by actual evidence. This isn't Sunday Mass, people aren't just going to believe whatever you say just because you say it. The rational world operates on evidence, not faith. These same steps are used to find election fraud in other countries. While you might think quoting lines about statistics being lies makes you feel good, they are a useful tool that effects almost every aspect of your life.

Gas is higher in CA because a series of refinery accidents and fires have tightened supply in the region. It has absolutely nothing to do with the president. The same thing happened in this area just a few months ago, and if you were paying attention you would have been able to fill up the night before the prices increased $0.20. It is not a conspiracy, it is the market in action.

G Ryan, you never disappoint with the immature name calling. "Obiter"? That's a new one, how long did it take your feeble mind to come up with that one? And "Stoned", that's just genius.

BTW, gas went over $4 a gallon beginning in April of 2008, long before President Obama was elected, let alone sworn in. And that was not President Bush's fault. Presidents have little ability, if any to effect the price of gas. But who am I to debate with someone as bright as you? You might slice me apart with one of your witty names.

GRyan, many products are 'made in China' because quite frankly, they have to be. It is how we have exported inflation, and is the expected result from them buying US Tbills. To balance both sides of the equation, the money coming in from the sales of Treasury notes, is going out in the form of imports.

This is not basic economics, and simple talking points are not going to begin to cover the complexities of what is going on, and has been for a long time now.

But the US has not 'lost' its manufacturing industry. There are 11M people employed in the manufacturing industry in this country that would disagree with you. But like I said, it takes a higher level of skill than what was once needed. The simplest of jobs that the uneducated and untrained could do, are now being done by industrial robots(many of which are made here, by the way. Theres that high tech sector again)Those who have failed to adapt themselves to a changing market, are being left behind. And while not all of them are to blame for their own lack of personal growth, many of them are.
http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag31-33.htm

The manufacturing economy will never be as large as it once was. That 'we need to go back to go forward' line, is a lie that you have been told. Manufacturing is about to undergo its own revolution, and there is no way to stop it, and it is already happening;
http://www.3dprinter.net/

If you want to go backwards, don't be surprised when the world leaves you behind.

Gee.... maybe if they ( workers) got together and had support of the people, the wages would grow with the profits??? Though unions are the devil...

Yes, COB that is why American Airlines, Motorola in Libertyville and other corporations have laid off their work forces. I know Google is your best friend. Continue attacking your neighbor as you Liberals do so well. But the ship is sinking and we will all go down together.Obama has done a great job in dividing this nation after all he learned from the best, Hugo Chavez, his socialist buddy.

But the BLS had all the validity in the world when the unemployment rate was 8.3%? As usual you want it both ways, bad news is President Obama's fault. Good news, credit goes to someone else or it's manipulation. The unemployment numbers going down is no different then the Navy Seals killin bin Laden. The President has nothing to do with anything good.

No GRyan, I am talking about hypothesis and conclusions. More specifically, your incorrect presentation as a hypothesis, as a conclusion.

Asking questions is a good thing, it is how you will learn. It is how I learned. If you keep asking questions, and remove the political filter you seem to like to use, you will arrive at the answers you seek. You ask good questions, but you stop short of the solution, and are confusing your hypothesis with a conclusion. Learn the difference, and you will be able to take the next steps that are needed on your own.

Economics is a law of man, it is not a law of nature. The bar is much lower to understanding economics than it is to understand the secrets of the universe.

Yes, Stoned one must look at the subject sample in collecting all the necessary data by considering all kinds of variables. To determine the employment rate the US gov't surveys 390,000 businesses nationwide every month. This raw number is what is used and it is not seasonally adjusted. The number is considerably more RELIABLE then the 60,000 households that they survery to obtain the unemployment rate? Why is it more reliable? Because the sample group is more accurate and more valid. Because by looking at the employment rate they can identify how many jobs there are in our economy. Employment numbers are more accurate than unemployment rates because if you look at U-6(total labor force including those who have given up looking) versus U-3(those who are still actively looking). The U-3 unemployment rate is commonly the quoted one. But the one problem is that the data collected comes from the government so who would know if they did fudge them? The current employment rate is 14.1%. Now in concluding the unemployment ratio's BLS and the independent Gallup polling revealed that BLS numbers are biased to the low side compared to the independent surveyed Gallup numbers. The avg amount of the BLS numbers came out below the Gallup numbers at 0.124% so if the BLS states the unemployment rate is 7.8 on avg, the Gallup would state the true unemployment rate was really 7.924%. There are other variables to consider but I could be here all night to explain them.

Stoned....when gas prices skyrocketed under Pres. Bush everyone was on him to lower them so he had the reserves increased. And I recall the gas prices in December 2008 on avg was 1.79 a gallon. Now look at them. Compliments of Obitter. I just don't get it why Liberals want to be Superior all the time. Our country is going to be facing the largest fiscal cliff come January and you just want to argue when we need to unite and find solutions to the mess this country is in. l

G. Ryan, you still didn't answer why the BLS surveys were OK at 8.3% but now they are manipulated because they dropped. Would you have preferred they wnt to 9% at the risk of further damage to the country just to assure President Obama loses the election?

You also missed the part where I said the 2008 gas prices were not President Bush's fault. What makes me a liberal trying to be superior? Probably the fact that I have voted for every Republican candidate for president since 1980. That makes me a classic liberal, I guess.