U.S. Jobless Rate Declines To 7.8%; 114,000 Jobs Added

This drop in the unemployment rate is predicated on the claim that 873,000 people found employment, and yet only 114,000 jobs were added. And all while the labor participation rate remains unchanged. Is this some new form of arithmetic? Or does this seem a contradiction? Even if you allow for the explanation that perhaps the gap might be explained by part-time employment, it looks like an unbelievably high spike for a single month. The timing of this is also reason to be skeptical. BTW, this was based on the "household" survey (a volatile one -- UPDATE: the survey's margin of error is 400K, a 46% margin of error!!!), rather than the "establishment" survey (the more reliable one).

Frankly, I've lost confidence and the willingness to trust most - if not all - numbers published by the government.  Like Wil, my first thought on seeing the headline was "What convenient timing".    The only timing that would have been more suspect was if it had been published on the actual day of the first debate.