National Unemployment Rate Drops to 7.2 percent

According to a report delayed more than two weeks by the government shutdown, national unemployment numbers for September showed the U.S. economy added just 148,000 jobs, significantly worse than expected for the month.

The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 7.2 percent, the lowest since November 2008, as the labor-force participation rate held near 35-year lows, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.Private payroll creation stood at just 122,000 jobs, with state and local governments adding 28,000 positions and the federal government cutting 6,000 jobs.

Economists had been expecting 180,000 new positions and a steady jobless rate for the month of September.

The economy continues on the road to recovery, but at a more modest pace than the American people need or expect," said Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez."President Obama continues to push for an agenda that will kick the recovery into a higher gear. He is asking Congress to pass a budget that invests in important priorities like education, infrastructure and technology, while continuing to reduce the deficit over the long term. And he is stepping up the call to fix our broken immigration system in a way that increases economic growth. These job-creating initiatives should have been the nations focus over the last month; instead, we were sidetracked by a divisive struggle that inflicted unnecessary wounds on the economy."

Perez also said the numbers did not reflect the impact of the government shutdown on the national economy. The impact of the shutdown will not be able to be fully measured until more data are released in the coming months.

The economy cant live up to its potential if its hijacked every few months," said Perez on the shutdown. "Businesses manufacture jobs, while Congress manufactures crises. Lets move on to the task that Americans demand of us -- working together to create jobs, grow the economy and strengthen the middle class.