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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Day: October 5, 2012

September 2012 US Unemployment Rate

  • Unemployment rate falls to 7.8% in September, By Neil Irwin, October 5, 2012, Washington Post: “The job market is finally showing some juice. The unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent in September, the Labor Department said Friday, from 8.1 percent in July, its lowest since January 2009. It is a surprising show of improvement in a job market that had seemed listless in recent months. Unlike in August, the number improved for the right reason: not because people gave up looking for jobs, but because far more people reported having one. Employers reported creating 114,000 jobs in September, almost identical to analysts’ forecasts, but revisions to data from July and August brought boosted that measure of the job market, as well…”
  • U.S. unemployment rate falls to 7.8%, hits 44-month low, by John Schmid, October 5, 2012, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “The nation added jobs for the 24th consecutive month in September and pushed the unemployment rate below 8% for the first time in more than three and a half years. Last month’s job creation, however, was modest – an estimated 104,000 in the private sector and another 10,000 in the government sector, which includes all state, local and federal agencies. Economists say the pace of hiring throughout most of the recovery has been neutral, hardly enough to compensate for population growth and new entrants into a labor market of 140 million. What took nearly all economists by surprise was the sharp drop in the unemployment rate to 7.8% from 8.1% in August. The last time it was below 8.0% was January 2009 – the month that President Barack Obama took office. In the months after Obama’s inauguration, the rate rose sharply and peaked at 10% in October 2009. It had topped 8% for 43 straight months…”
  • Jobless rate falls to 7.8%, lowest level of Obama’s term, By Shaila Dewan, October 5, 2012, New York Times: “The nation’s unemployment rate dropped sharply to 7.8 percent in September, its lowest level since the month President Obama took office, the Labor Department said Friday. While employers added only a modest 114,000 jobs last month, the jobless rate declined from 8.1 percent in August. The unemployment rate fell because more people were working, not because discouraged job seekers stopped looking, the numbers showed…”

School Breakfast Programs – New Jersey

Report: NJ makes progress with school breakfasts, By Katie Zezima (AP), October 2, 2012, Long Island Newsday: “The number of low-income children who receive breakfast in New Jersey schools each day has dramatically increased, according to a new report released Tuesday, but the state still lags far behind nationally. There was a 21 percent increase in the number of low-income students eating breakfast at school from October 2010 to March 2012, according to Advocates for Children of New Jersey, which released the report. The group compiled its findings from state data. Schools are increasingly serving students breakfast after the school day starts, allowing more children to access a healthy breakfast and attributing to the jump, the report said…”