ECONOMY/JOBS/LABOR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Unemployment fell to its lowest level in nearly half a century in September even as job growth slowed, allowing President Donald Trump to present a mostly-favorable economic picture in the critical home stretch before the midterm elections. The Labor Department reported 134,000 new jobs in September, down from 270,000 in August. Wage growth dipped, with average hourly earnings up 2.8 percent over the previous year, down from 2.9 percent in August — the largest single-month jump in nearly a decade. But unemployment was 3.7 percent, down from 3.9 percent in August and its lowest level since December 1969. If the September job-growth number signals a long-term slowdown, that would hardly be unexpected, given that the economy has for months been at or near full employment. But the September jobs number, combined with the slowdown in wage growth, complicates Republicans’ efforts to claim success from their tax cut and deregulatory policies. Earlier week, Trump boasted on Twitter about ‘blowout numbers on New Jobs’ that failed to materialize.”
–Ian Kullgren, “Unemployment drops to lowest level since 1969,” Politico, October 5, 2018 10:16 am