LOOK CLOSELY: The unemployment rate actually fell

The unemployment rate was 5.1% in September, unchanged from 5.1% in August.

While that's accurate, it's imprecise.

The issue is rounding.

In September, 7.915 million Americans were unemployed. The civilian labor force, which includes the employed and everyone looking for jobs, stood at 156.715 million. Based on those number, the unemployment rate was 5.051%.

In August, there were 8.029 million unemployed and 157.065 million in the labor force, which meant the unemployment rate was closer to 5.112%.

That's a 0.06% point drop in the unemployment rate. That's definitely more of a drop than it isn't.

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