Greensboro, NC -- It's back to reality for the American family today after two weeks of promises and excitement at the national conventions.
Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the August jobs report.
The report shows the economy created 96,000 jobs and the unemployment rate dropped 2 percent to 8.1.
In an election season these numbers will inevitably become political football.
But the fact is the latest jobs report is not encouraging.
There were 41,000 fewer jobs also created in July and June than first estimated.
Many experts agree the economy is not turning negative but it's just not growing enough jobs.
"From a political standpoint, it doesn't look good for one side and it doesn't look good for the country,' said Steve Hutchinson with the Hutchinson Wealth Management Group.
The unemployment rate went down because the workforce has shrunk.
The report shows 368,000 people simply lost hope of ever finding a job and stopped looking.
For things to actually start moving at a much faster pace, some suggest the economy needs to create at least 200,000 jobs a month.
By those standards you'll notice the latest numbers fell short by 104,000.
"What it means is that the average person who has a job, hang on to it. And work hard as you can to keep your boss happy," Hutchinson said. "The person that's looking for a job right now: retrain, relocate, and continue to keep pushing. Jobs are at a premium."
He adds that the U.S. economy will more than likely contract a little more in the next few months; certainly not what many families want to hear.
Ahead of Friday's jobs report the Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, called the unemployment level a "grave concern."
But, yesterday a strong jobs market data announcement and a European Central Bank plan helped the stock market close at a multi-year high.