labor department

The United States added a robust 200,000 new jobs last month, the Labor Department said, in a sign that the economic recovery was gaining momentum.

The jobless rate fell to its lowest level since March 2009, partly on a shrinking labor pool, the Labor Department said Friday.

American employers added 103,000 jobs in September, the Labor Department said Friday, staving off the bleakest economic forecasts.

With President Obama continuing to press a balky Congress to pass his jobs bill, the Labor Department’s monthly snapshot highlighted the challenges for an administration faced with an economy that has struggled to deliver significant employment growth since the recovery started more than two years ago.

Here is a recap of the top news items from this week on Wall Street: 1. The Dow Jones sunk more than 250 points on Friday following one of the worst readings on the job market since the start of the recovery in early 2009.

Data from the Labor Department showed the U.S. added zero jobs in August, well short of the 68,000 jobs economist had expected.

July was revised from a gain of 117,000 jobs to a gain of 85,000. Private payrolls rose 17,000, versus the consensus of 95,000.

Manufacturing payrolls were down 3,000, versus the consensus of flat. The

Economists had forecast job growth in the United States of 60,000 for August, but the Labor Department found nonfarm payrolls flat as the jobless rate held at 9.1%.

The job growth figure, reported by the Labor Department, was the strongest since April, but may still not be high enough to relieve fears of a renewed recession.

Here is a recap of the top news items from this week on Wall Street: 1. One of the most disappointing payroll reports in recent history shocked traders on the Street Friday.

Following a much better-than-expected ADP reading on Thursday (came in at 157,000, compared to an estimate of just 70,000), traders began getting giddy about the Friday report.

Moreover, analysts began raising estimates for nonfarm payrolls following the ADP report. The Labor Department reported a measly 18,000 jobs were added in June, well below the 105,000 economists had been expecting.

The jobless rate rose to 9.2 percent in June from 9.1 percent in May, the Labor Department said, as the economy added a meager 18,000 jobs.

The Labor Department delivers an economic "punch to the gut" of the nation — a disheartening jobs report that spurs a frenzied round of finger pointing.