Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

   More Americans found jobs in September, even as the unemployment rate and the number of people out of work remained steady, according to a government report released today.
   That means more people rejoined the work force and successfully found jobs.
   Over the past three months, increases in payroll employment averaged 192,000 monthly.
   In September, total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 156,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said, while the unemployment rate was little changed, at 5 percent, and the total number of unemployed workers held at 7.9 million.
   To be counted as unemployed, a person must be available for work and actively looking for work, according to BLS standards. Students, retirees, military personnel, prison inmates and those in hospitals are not included in the civilian workforce.
   
   Separately, the Commerce Department said manufacturing in America "is making a comeback, with more than 800,000 new jobs added" since the economy began to recover from the Great Recession.
   In a lengthy announcement to mark national Manufacturing Day, the agency outlined numerous measures taken in recent years to encourage manufacturing in America. Most of the examples were about jobs requiring advanced technology skills and the technological nature of the manufacturing sector.
   
   The two announcements, just a month before Election Day, are sure to be fodder for the presidential campaigns, with one side praising the continuing growth of the U.S. economy under a Democratic President, and the other side insisting that growth is not as strong as it could or should be.
   Which side is right? Depending on how you look at the numbers, they both are.
   Certainly the American economy, as measured by output, employment and unemployment, has been on an upward path for nearly eight years, but worldwide economic pressures and other issues, including the political consequences of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union (Brexit) and the resulting reshaping of international trade among the U.S., Britain and the rest of Europe, have all led to uncertainty for countries around the world.
   And this uncertainty, fueled by fear of "The Others," could lead to a worldwide crash that would make the Great Depression seem like a brief stumble.
   Finally, what effect all this will have on the upcoming presidential election will depend on which candidate American voters choose to believe. Is the American economy doing great, doing as well as can be expected, or is it tanking or about to tank?