Unemployment Rate Falls: Gallup

Ahead of tomorrow’s official release of the U.S. unemployment rate, Gallup today said that its non-seasonally adjusted rate fell from 8.1% in August to 7.9% in September. The final September figure is identical with Gallup’s mid-September rate. On a seasonally adjusted basis, Gallup says the September unemployment rate was 8.1%, the same as the August rate.

Gallup notes that the unadjusted 7.9% rate is the lowest since the company began tracking employment data in January 2010, and well below the 8.6% rate measured last September.

The unadjusted underemployment rate in September came in at 16.5%, again the lowest on record for the survey, and substantially better than the 18.3% rate in September 2011. The drop is attributed to a decline in unemployment and a decline in the number of part-time workers seeking full-time employment.

The official unemployment rate was 8.1% in August and is expected to remain unchanged when the U.S. Department of Labor reports tomorrow.

Paul Ausick