Unemployment Rate Increases to 9.7% in August

The government announced an increase in the unemployment rate to 9.7% for August from 9.4% in July. The 9.7% rate was higher than expectations of 9.5%. Stock market futures sold off as the news was announced but shortly thereafter recovered to pre-announcement levels. As of 8:45am S&P futures are up 1.4 above fair value.