President Obama should use the formula from Mayor Bloomberg's spin machine. Ignore the bad news, isolate an obscure fact, spin it positive, and repeat. I mean, it doesn't work here in New York City, but the rest of America seems to buy it.

According to the Labor Department, the nation's unemployment rate dropped from 8.3% to 8.1% today. Also, 96,000 jobs were created in August, the thirtieth month in a row where employers added workers. But the news may not be as positive as it appears, since Americans who aren't looking for work aren't counted in the unemployment statistics.

Job growth also fell below the expectations economists had for August. As a result, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said today America is "going in the wrong direction." Even President Obama said, "We know it's not good enough. We need to create more jobs, faster." What do you say?

What's your reaction to the drop in the unemployment rate? How important is job creation when deciding who you will vote for in November? If you've been looking for work, what's the job market been like lately?

Send your thoughts using the link above.

The Unemployment rate dropped because they cut a lot of people's benefits off earlier than expected, myself and my fellow ex-OTB employees included. When we were terminated we were told we would have up to 92 weeks of benefits, and when June came around we were told to get the 20 additional weeks we had left we would have to file job search worksheets at the end of each month. Two months into June we all received as notice telling us we now had 6 weeks of Unemployment left, which meant we were already two weeks in and only had a month of coverage left. So now about 900-1000 people, give or take were no longer counted as being unemployed. How many of them actually have found jobs now that it is September I can't tell you, but I know many people who are out of work who have now been forced to apply for welfare and other public assistance. I guess that doesn't register as unemployed when they count the statistics, it just makes things look as bad as they are.

I got lucky and found a job that pays a decent wage and actually has health benefits, which is like finding a four leaf clover in this job market. What I did find while searching for a job is that the whole internet application process is a joke. Thankfully I got to talk to a real human being who physically read my resume and spoke to me face to face. The use of "buzzwords" that a computer at an Human Resources Department somewhere might pick out is a virtual dice-game, with your potential livelihood at stake.

RL
The Bronx

John,

We can get as excited and riled up all we want after last night’s speeches from Obama and Biden. But the bottom line is, did the President do enough to create more jobs for Americans? Based on the job figures, the answer is a resounding “NO”!

As it’s been said before, “It’s the economy, stupid!” And it is! Millions lost their jobs, their homes, their dignity and self-respect. How many of the “new” jobs pay a decent enough salary to provide for a family?

Instead of bailing out Wall Street, Obama should have bailed out Main Street! Yes, he helped Chrysler, but how many jobs did he allow to go overseas? How much is outsourced? How many of these “new” jobs pay only minimum wage?

End the wars NOW and there’s your money to pay for all of this AND tax the rich already!

Dina and Ed from Throggs Neck

Hi John,

The people have exhausted their un-employement funds and so they are out of the work force. Many also can't keep going out with little or no income and have to spend money on carfare everyday. Also I have listened to people that have gone to all of these glorified job fairs and the majority of the jobs are out of state and out of our areas. Plus they need a car. So meanwhile we once again get a band aid effect just for these politicians to look good. Out of all of these politicians not one has come up with a solution in New York. But they all jumped on the band wagon to to come to the defense of this Shelly Silver and the other cohorts. They need to fire all that were involved right on up and down the food chain line. Most of these jobs they claim that were created in August are the low paying jobs that are in many fast food restaurants. They are not created jobs.
The count is whatever these politicians propose whatever they think will look good for them.

Plus I have to give credit to many that have to take these low paying jobs and must work at two or three of them to barley survive. I have done all of that myself = BUT I HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED THAT ONE PERSON OUT OF A JOB IS ONE TO MANY.

Thank you John,
maxxiee
mp

The number job of the republicans was to defeat Obama day one, and they have fought him have at every turn, including blocking his job initiatives, knowing that the only chance they had at defeating him was for the unemployment rate stay above 8%, congrats republicans you got your wish.

Felix
Bay Ridge

I am almost 40 years old and in my lifetime wages have depressed to the point where I could not afford the same standard of living my parents had. There is something wrong with the structure of the economy when I, an MBA graduate cannot afford the same or a better living than a high school graduate. There is something wrong when I have to put in 65-80 hours per week at my job to not earn what my parents got paid for working have. When I cannot afford to retire or save for retirement at a reasonable age like my parents have. When I pay for health benefits that used to be free for my parents. When I spend more time between jobs than on the job. When I pay more taxes than my parents ever did. For less! Essentially it is an epidemic which not only faces the young, the uneducated, the unemployed...it affects every walk of life across generations.

The bigger picture- the standard of living has not improved in 40 years which is more profound than the simple decrease in unemployment rate since last month.

Thanks,
CH, Manhattan.

Even though I am a teenager,I myself have been unable to obtain a job because of the fact that many employers just aren't hiring teens, so for Bloomberg to say that the jobs market in new York has improved has not checked the dismal hiring rates for teens. Even though jobs for adults are scarce, one cannot forget us teens, who will enter the force in a few years. I'm 17 and worry about finding a job when i'm in college and trying to earn money myself

- Davon, Jamaica: Queens

(PS, if I were to vote, I would vote Obama because even though he hasn't lived all the promises through, at least he did some and started working on others, and that counts so much. He kept his word, and that's the most important thing to do.)

The Republican refusal to DO THEIR JOB in Congress is what I blame for a bad economy: I remember their recalcitrance when it came to raising the debt ceiling and our subsequent credit downgrade- that sort of crap is what keeps the economy bad. There is lack of confidence in the ability of CONGRESS to do right by the American people-- let's get it straight.

And congress isn't working because of the Republicans. Are we blaming Obama for inciting irrational hatred from these Republicans? I blame the Republicans; they desecrate the role of public servant.

AC

The downward slide of the economy has been curtailed due the the ingenuity of president Obama. We Americans should give him for more years to finish the good work he started. We should not take four steps (4 years backward with Romney)

Jade
Brooklyn

Let's "connect the dots." Don't like the jobs report? Thank Republican obstruction.

FACT: In past recessions, state and local government employment increased with the aid of Federal funding.

FACT: In a meeting that included Lyin' Paul Ryan, Republicans conspired the night of President Obama's inauguration to obstruct economic recovery as a 2012 election strategy - a treasonous plot that continues to take precedence over relief to the struggling Americans Republicans pretend to serve.

In keeping with this plot, vetted and detailed in Robert Draper's book, "Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives," Republicans continue to BLOCK any substantial recovery efforts.

FACT: Republican governors have outright rejected fully funded Federal projects - causing a loss of over 636,000 jobs.

The New York Times reported today, "Without this hidden austerity program, the economy would look very different. If state and local governments had followed the pattern of the previous two recessions, they would have added 1.4 million to 1.9 million jobs and overall unemployment would be 7.0 to 7.3 percent instead of 8.2 percent."

Tara (Queens)

I have been looking for work for over two years.....I just found a part time position in which I am grateful. I don't believe that people will stop looking for work when they are in need of the basics to survive such as food and shelter. They are withholding jobs to make the Obama Administration look bad. Everything is going up while the pay rate has declined. What [ticks] me off is that they want to blame Obama when it is people like Romney that created this situation by outsourcing. We are suffering out here but Obama is working to make it better if Romney becomes president we will die out here.

Don't Believe the Hype.

I believe in my personal opinion that these young kids are still living with mom and dad and they abusing the benefits that adults with kids and families really need because they have no actual responsibilites... Just my opinion and at the same time I'm for obama but will these new jobs benefit us minorities too or is it just for white america...

Mario H. From bensonhurst brooklyn

Back in 2009 and about to get laid off again next week, the job market was horrendous. Few interviews are so discouraging and lots of places didn't want people who were out of work longer periods of time. I hate that this is happening again because it may be worse than 2009. Not sure what's going to happen this time around.

Andre