THE SCARIEST JOBS CHART EVER

The U.S. economy added just 148,000 jobs in September, which was lower than 180,000 expected. However, the August number was revised up to 193,000 from an earlier estimate of 169,000.

The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 63.2%, and the the unemployment rate to 7.2% from 7.3% in August.

Despite the marginal improvements in the numbers, the U.S. labor market remains anemic.

Calculated Risk runs a chart every month that puts the current jobs recovery into perspective.

"This shows the depth of the recent employment recession - worse than any other post-war recession - and the relatively slow recovery due to the lingering effects of the housing bust and financial crisis," writes Bill McBride of Calculated Risk.