Labor Department, Government Report | featured news

The government went back over its numbers and found something missing -- nearly 400,000 new jobs. In its annual revision to its employment data, the Labor Department said Thursday that 386,000 more jobs were created in the year ending in March than it originally had reported. The revision is a preliminary estimate, with a final figure coming in February.

New claims for unemployment insurance dropped to their lowest level in seven months, government data showed on Thursday, raising hopes that hiring may be picking up. The Labor Department said seasonally adjusted initial claims dropped 5,000 to 388,000, versus the previous week's revised 393,000 figure. The 4-week moving average, widely considered a more accurate measure of labor market trends, was 396,750, a drop of 4,000 from the previous week's revised average of 400,750.

Job creation came to a halt in August, according to new government data that show an economic recovery that appears to be sputtering out. The Labor Department on Friday reported zero net job creation in August, far worse than the 68,000 net jobs analysts had expected to be added. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.1 percent. The July job growth number was revised downward, as well, to only 85,000 jobs added that month — not the 117,000 estimated.