--- title: "Unemployment Rate Drops to 7.8 Percent: What You Need to Know" id: "13693" type: "post" slug: "unemployment-rate-drops-to-7-8-percent-what-you-need-to-know" published_at: "2012-10-05T16:41:58+00:00" modified_at: "2026-11-09T19:22:05+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2012/10/05/unemployment-rate-drops-to-7-8-percent-what-you-need-to-know/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2012/10/05/unemployment-rate-drops-to-7-8-percent-what-you-need-to-know.md" excerpt: "The unemployment rate has reached its lowest rate since January of 2009 — here’s what that means for you." taxonomy_category: - "Career Development" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Business" - "economy" - "jobs" - "unemployment" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "C-Level" - "Executive Team" taxonomy_persona: - "Executive Leadership" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Unemployment Rate Drops to 7.8 Percent: What You Need to Know The September jobs numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics came out this morning — and these numbers could have a huge influence on next month’s election. How does this matter to you or your association? Here’s a quick breakdown: ### The good news > Today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to heal. There’s a lot of that this month — [with the jobless rate falling below 8 percent (opens in a new tab)](http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm) for the first time since January 2009 and an increase in nonfarm job creation by 114,000. Revised numbers from July and August also showed improvements, with 86,000 new jobs added during those months — on top of their prior totals. A separate report, the [household employment survey (opens in a new tab)](http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/ces_cps_trends.pdf) [pdf], which gathers its data differently from the more-well-known payroll survey, also showed a notable jump: Households reported an increase in jobs by 873,000 last month, the highest such monthly increase since 1983. And better, more people entered the job market last month — 418,000 in total — than in prior months, which bodes well for the nature of the economic improvement. Many financial analysts [reacted positively to the news (opens in a new tab)](http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/05/us-usa-economy-payrolls-idUSBRE8940NQ20121005) . The news, overall, is good for the Obama administration, which has dealt with an unemployment rate above 8 percent for nearly the entire period the president has been in office. “While there is more work that remains to be done,” [said Alan B. Krueger (opens in a new tab)](http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/10/05/employment-situation-september) , the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, “today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to heal from the wounds inflicted by the worst downturn since the Great Depression.” ### The bad news > This is not what a real recovery looks like. By historical standards, a 7.8 percent unemployment rate is still fairly high — many economists consider 6 percent “full employment.” And more than half of the employment gains were part-time jobs, not full time. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney tried to make this point clear in a statement. “This is not what a real recovery looks like,” [he said this morning (opens in a new tab)](http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/unemployment-rate-plunges-to-78percent/2012/10/05/bdb6e5bc-0ee7-11e2-a310-2363842b7057_story.html) . “We created fewer jobs in September than in August, and fewer jobs in August than in July, and we’ve lost over 600,000 manufacturing jobs since President Obama took office. If not for all the people who have simply dropped out of the labor force, the real unemployment rate would be closer to 11 percent.” And the U-6 unemployment rate, which includes people marginally attached to the labor force along with people working part-time for economic reasons, remained high at 14.7 percent, which is equal to the August number. [Some analysts consider the U-6 number the “real” unemployment number (opens in a new tab)](http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/10/05/why-did-the-unemployment-rate-drop-9/) , as it includes a subset of people not included in the main unemployment tally — those who have dropped out of the labor force but still want to work. Are things getting better economically for your association? Let us know what you think in the comments. (TMG archive photo) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#Business](https://associationsnow.com/tag/business/) [#economy](https://associationsnow.com/tag/economy/) [#jobs](https://associationsnow.com/tag/jobs/) [#unemployment](https://associationsnow.com/tag/unemployment/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [Video🚀 The Agile Association Professional: How to Pivot Your Career Path When the Strategic Plan ShiftsJuly 28, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/07/28/the-agile-association-professional-how-to-pivot-your-career-path-when-the-strategic-plan-shifts/) - [Video2026 Summit Awards DinnerOctober 2, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/10/02/2026-summit-awards-dinner/) - [VideoAmerican Geophysical Union: Standing Up for Science: AGU’s Year of Action for Scientists and SocietySeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/american-geophysical-union-standing-up-for-science-agus-year-of-action-for-scientists-and-society/) - [VideoAmerican College of Emergency Physicians: ACEP Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation ProgramSeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/american-college-of-emergency-physicians-acep-geriatric-emergency-department-accreditation-program/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2012%2F10%2F05%2Funemployment-rate-drops-to-7-8-percent-what-you-need-to-know%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !