Last month’s jobs data according to the household survey was thoroughly implausible. It found that the economy created 873 thousand new jobs in a single month, driving unemployment from 8.1% to 7.8%. That number was wildly at odds with the establishment survey (114 thousand), and its like had not been seen since the height of the Reagan-era boom. (Does it feel like the Reagan boom right now?)
The Obama campaign made the most of this, but not to worry. If the number was a statistical error, which seems likely, it will be balanced out by the October report.
Or perhaps not. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is talking about delaying the October jobs report until after the election. Their excuse is Hurricane Sandy.
UPDATE: The numbers came out on schedule after all, and the unemployment rate did increase from 7.8 to 7.9. (The Bureau of Labor Statistics calls that “essentially unchanged”.)
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