US Unemployment Rate Unexpectedly Plunges Below 8% As 661K Jobs Added

In a repeat of last month when the monthly payrolls came in as expected but the unemployment rate dropped far more than expected, moments ago the BLS report that in September a total of 661K jobs were added, below the 868K expected, and less than half the 1.489MM in August…

… but offsetting this disappointment was the plunge in the unemployment rate which tumbled by a whopping 50bps from 8.4% to 7.9%, with rates for both blacks and Hispanic plunging as well.

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