The government's September jobs report came in weaker than expected, setting off a debate over whether it's actual condition. Businesses added just over 50,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, but the number for August was revised sharply higher.
The unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a percent, to 4.6. But the manufacturing sector lost another 19,000 jobs, and retail shed 8,000.
Economists are fond of saying one month's numbers do not make a trend. And while overall job growth was weak in September, the upward revisions to July and August put job growth in the third quarter at a respectable 120,000 per month.
The new report also included an admission that the government understated job creation during the 12 months from March 2005 to March 2006 by 810,000 positions.
To put that number in perspective, consider this: It's more people than live in the city of Jacksonville, Fla., or in the entire state of South Dakota.
The Labor Department says that it is looking at its methodology.
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