Nation's job numbers out: mixed results, but overall positive

More than 100K jobs created last month (and 99K more jobs in previous months' reassessments)

The employment data for the nation overall for the month of September has been released, and the news is pretty mixed.

The unemployment rate stayed at 9.1 percent, the same rate it has been since July, signaling a stagnant impasse.

Yet, when lookin at the raw numbers, job creation actually did better than expected. The country added more than 100,000 jobs last month. Though analysts say 150,000 jobs are needed to keep up with population growth, this month's numbers show that the economy is capable of getting back to work, though painstakingly slower than what we'd like.

There was other good news as well. Job numbers were also revised for August and July. The new data reveals that, in addition to the job numbers initially announced for those two months, 99,000 more jobs were created than what was originally thought.

Critics of the Obama administration will contend that the slower-than-needed job growth is proof positive that his economic policies are failing. But remember: when the president took office, he inherited an economy that had been losing more than seven times as many jobs than what was GAINED this September. Overall, since Obama took control, the nation's economy has recovered greatly, if slowly, since his stimulus went into action. To return to the failed policies of the previous administration, a move that the Republicans would happily embrace, would be a huge mistake.

It will also be interesting to see where Wisconsin will be in a couple of weeks, when its employment numbers are released. While the country has maintained a relatively stable unemployment rate, Wisconsin's figures haven't been so fortunate. The number of employed Wisconsinites, in fact, has decreased since Scott Walker became governor, dropping by thousands in a matter of nine months.

Hopefully, my continued doubts will be put to rest and Wisconsin's numbers will reflect the gains the rest of the country had. After all, when it comes to employing the state, I'd rather be wrong than be right, rather see people get back to work than have some sense of pride. However, I won't be holding my breath for too long: if the current trends continue, we're in for a messy September jobs report as well.