Today, the BLS released its Employment Situation report for September 2012. The report showed a seasonally adjusted increase in nonfarm payrolls of 114,000. Private sector payrolls increased by 104,000, while government payrolls grew by 10,000. Yet, the "official" unemployment rate (U-3) declined to 7.8%. This marks the first time since January 2009 that the unemployment rate has dropped below 8.0%. Despite the drop in the official unemployment rate, the broader U-6 rate, often referred to as the "real unemployment rate", was unchanged at 14.7%. This study explores what is behind all the numbers.