Waking up from our post-debate slumber today, we're greeted with an unpleasant announcement: The government's newly released jobs report shows a loss of 159,000 jobs, nearly twice the loss of August or July and the largest monthly decline in employment since 2003. David Leonhardt points out the bad news: The survey was conducted before the financial crisis really ramped up into full gear, so we don't know the magnitude of that event's effect on joblessness. It's one more sign that the fundamentals of our economy aren't strong and another indicator that the problems at the top of the economy are affecting the bottom of the economy.
The Economic Policy Institute has a nifty map that shows you the range of the unemployment problem, though I don't believe it includes the data released today. Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, and Illinois are among the worst hit.
--Tim Fernholz
