US unemployment drops to 7.9% but hiring slows pre-election

The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 7.9% in September, but hiring is slowing and many Americans have given up looking for work, the government said Friday in the final jobs report before the voters decide whether to give President Donald Trump another term.

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October 2, 2020 - 3:04 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 7.9% in September, but hiring is slowing and many Americans have given up looking for work, the government said Friday in the final jobs report before the voters decide whether to give President Donald Trump another term.

With a month to go before Election Day, the Labor Department said  employers added just 661,000 jobs in September amid the coronavirus outbreak, down from 1.5 million in August and 1.8 million in July. 

Unemployment fell from 8.4% in August, but that mainly reflected a decline in the number of people seeking work, rather than a surge in hiring. The government doesn’t count people as unemployed if they aren’t actively looking for a job.

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