Surge In Part-Time Jobs Responsible For Decline In Unemployment: Along With Upward Revision Of Summer Job Growth Suggests Ending Extended Unemployment Benefits In The Spring Is Putting People Back On The Payroll

The announcement of the lower unemployment rate today, which includes an increase in the number of people in the workforce, and a surge in part-timers who want full-time work, is probably due in a significant part to the ending of the extended unemployment benefits just prior to the beginning of the summer.

From The Wall Street Journal Real Time Economics, "Why Did the Unemployment Rate Drop?" by Phil Izzo:

In September, the number of part-time workers who would like full-time jobs surged by 582,000. That represents about two-thirds of the increase in employment last month and is larger than the drop in the number of unemployed.

Additionally, there was a huge upward revision in job growth for July and August.

From The Wall Street Journal Real Time Economics, "Four Takeaways From Jobs Report" by Ben Casselman:

Big revisions to July, August: The Labor Department revised up its estimate of July jobs growth to 181,000 from 141,000 and its August estimate to 142,000 from 96,000 — a combined addition of 86,000 jobs. That means job growth was significantly stronger over the summer than previously believed,