The numbers are seasonally adjusted.
There really is no good way to spin this. It's bad, very bad, and will overshadow anything good that came out of St. Paul this week. This will get flogged enthusiastically by the Democrats and the press, and blamed on Bush. It doesn't matter whether it's adjusted later, it doesn't matter what any other fundamentals are, this is very bad news for the McCain candidacy...
Press Release from the Labor Department
"The unemployment rate rose from 5.7 to 6.1 percent in August, and non-farm payroll employment continued to trend down (-84,000), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. In August, employment fell in manufacturing and employment services, while mining and health care continued to add jobs. Average hourly earnings rose by 7 cents, or 0.4 percent, over the month."“This will get flogged enthusiastically by the Democrats and the press, and blamed on Bush”
The McCain people are also running against Bush as hard or harder than against Obama. So they are trying to run against themselves.
And along with with the drive by media, overlook the fact of the democrats controlling the House AND Senate for the past 2 years and revisit the promises made by San Fran Nan and Dingy Harry, and the score card of results.