New Jobs Report: "Slightly Better Than Expected"

The Hotline: "The national unemployment rate rose to 9.6% and the economy lost 54K jobs, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released early Friday. Those numbers beat expectations are slightly better than expected. Unemployment rose from 9.5% in July, but most economic analysts expected job losses to be higher. The BLS also revised previous reports to reflect a more positive environment in June and July. The economy shed 175K jobs in June, down from the earlier estimate of 221K jobs, and 54K jobs in July, down from the initial 131K estimate.