Am I missing something?

is the Glass half full and half empty?

Reuters Reports:

U.S. job losses fell to their lowest level in a year last month, but the unemployment rate jumped to a 26-year high, painting a mixed picture of an economic recovery hindered by weakness in the labor market.

The Labor Department said on Friday the jobless rate climbed to 9.7 percent in August, the highest since June 1983. The bigger-than-expected rise suggested weak consumer spending would impede recovery from the worst slump in seven decades.

Employers cut 216,000 jobs, the smallest since August 2008, but the department revised upward the June and July job losses by 49,000.