WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. unemployment rate inched down to 5.8 percent in October, the lowest it has been since 2008, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The drop from 5.9 percent in September came as the private sector added 214,000 jobs. The increase matches the one reported Wednesday by the payroll services company ADP.
The department revised its August and September jobs figures to show 256,000 new jobs in September and 203,000 in August, a net increase of 31,000 for the two months. This year, employment has increased by an average of 220,000 a month, the best showing in almost a decade.
Economists said the latest numbers are good news for U.S. workers.
"What we're seeing in the labor market -- it's not totally recovered yet, but it's recovering quite nicely now," Bill Hampel, chief economist at the Credit Union National Association, told the Washington Post.
