Unemployment Rate Drops To 7.8 Percent, Nearly 4-Year Low

Updated
unemployment stats jobs report
unemployment stats jobs report



By Lucia Mutikani


WASHINGTON -- The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to a near four-year low of 7.8 percent in September, a potential boost to President Barack Obama's re-election bid.

The Labor Department said on Friday that the unemployment rate, a key focus in the race for the White House, dropped by 0.3 percentage point to its lowest point since January 2009.

A survey of households from which the jobless rate is derived showed 873,000 job gains last month, the most since June 1983. The drop in unemployment came even as Americans moved back into the labor force to resume the hunt for work. The workforce had shrunk in the prior two months.

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