Job seekers read event schedule materials during the Job Hunters Boot Camp at the San Mateo Event Center on October 16, 2013 in San Mateo, Calif.
The U.S. economy gained fewer jobs than forecast in September, but the unemployment rate still ticked down to 7.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday morning.
Non-farm payrolls increased by 148,000, less than the 180,000 Wall Street had expected. Part-time jobs dipped and full-time jobs increased, Business Insider reports, as employers slowly but surely continue to ramp up during a still-sluggish economic recovery. Job gains in August were revised upwards, and the unemployment rate dropped from 7.3 percent to 7.2 percent.
The September jobs report was supposed to come out earlier this month but was delayed because of the government shutdown. The latest numbers don’t yet reflect any economic impact of the 16-day shutdown.