Bloomberg reported that the U.S. economy added just 96,000 jobs in August, falling short of expectations and showing that with a presidential election just two months away, the nation still has a long ways to go to heal from the deep 2007-2009 recession.

The unemployment rate fell to 8.1% from 8.3%, but that was only because 368,000 people left the labor force, Bloomberg notes. The job market is even weaker than the official employment rate indicates, Bloomberg said, because it misses people who are at working-age but aren’t even looking for jobs.

Bloomberg said stock and bond prices rose after the report came out because the conclusion reached by investors was that such a “lousy” report increased the likelihood that the Fed would further ease monetary conditions, which is reliably good for the financial markets.

To read the Bloomberg story click here.