The Labor Department reported Friday that the unemployment rate fell to 9% from 9.1% - the first time it has dropped since July. The U.S. economy also added 80,000 jobs in October, the government said.
The Labor Department also reported the economy added 102,000 more jobs in August and September than first thought. And the ranks of the long-term unemployed, people out of a job for at least six months, fell sharply to 5.9 million.
Hiring last month was broad. Professional and business services, which includes the accounting, engineering, and temporary help industries, added 32,000 jobs. Hotels, restaurants, and entertainment companies added 22,000. Health care added 12,000.
The economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5% in July, August and September, its best performance in a year. In the first half of this year, the economy expanded at the slowest pace since the Great Recession ended in June 2009.
The stronger economy over the summer was fueled by consumer spending, which grew three times as fast as it had this spring. Americans spent more even in the face of fears of a new recession and gyrations in the stock market.
The number of discouraged workers -- those who have given up looking for work and are no longer counted as unemployed, fell. And fewer people with part-time jobs were looking for full-time work.
