Jobs picture improves, but what will tomorrow bring? [live chat]

Two economic reports brought good news about jobs Thursday, signaling that the August jobs numbers coming out Friday will show improvement too.

Join us for a live discussion about the state of unemployment later Wednesday.

The Times will host a Google+ Hangout at 1 p.m. PDT with economy reporter Don Lee and Business deputy editor Joe Bel Bruno. We invite you to join in on the conversation by posting comments below or on The Times’ Facebook and Google Plus pages or on Twitter using the #asklatimes hashtag.

LIVE VIDEO DISCUSSION: Join us at 1 p.m. today

In a story Wednesday, Don Lee writes that Automatic Data Processing, a payroll processing firm that tracks employment, reported that 201,000 private-sector jobs were created last month – the most in five months. And in another piece of good economic news, the Labor Department said new claims for jobless benefits fell to 365,000 last week, from a revised 377,000 in the prior week. That is one of the lowest totals this year.

Lee and Bel Bruno will discuss how that economic good news might be reflected in the monthly jobs report that comes out Friday, and what the stakes are for President Obama.

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