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                US: Modest Job Growth, Falling Unemployment Rate

   The United States labor market added a modest 148,000 new jobs in
   September, but the U.S. unemployment rate dropped to its lowest point
   in nearly five years.
   The government said Tuesday the jobless rate last month edged down to
   7.2 percent, a tenth of a point better than the August figure. It was
   the best reading for the world`s largest economy since late 2008, just
   before the country endured its worst downturn since the Great
   Depression of the 1930s.
   The job growth number pointed to a slowing economy in the weeks just
   before a 16-day partial shutdown of the U.S. government that may have
   taken as much as $24 billion out of the economy. By comparison, the
   government revised its August job growth figure up from 169,000 to
   193,000.
   The U.S. said employment increased last month in construction,
   wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing. The report does not
   include the 800,000 government employees who were furloughed at the
   start of October, until lawmakers reopened government agencies last
   week.
   The U.S. jobless rate has been moving lower as the American economy
   slowly recovers from a recession several years ago. But it still is
   elevated by U.S. historical standards, where an unemployment rate of
   between 5 and 6 percent is more normal.
   The U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, is looking at several
   indicators, including the jobless rate, as it weighs next week whether
   to trim stimulus measures it has used to try to boost job growth and
   economic activity. The Fed has been pumping $85 billion a month into
   the economy with security purchases and had suggested it might begin to
   scale back its direct support of the economy. But the government
   shutdown could alter those plans.
   Economists say the government shutdown will hurt growth prospects for
   the last three months of the year.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-modest-job-growth-falling-unemployment-rate/1774436.html