Falling Jobless Rate Brings Hope for Unhappy U.S. Voters

Voters who expressed their unhappiness with the economy at the polls this week got a dose of good news yesterday: unemployment fell to 5.8 percent, the lowest level since 2008, and employers added more than 200,000 jobs to payrolls for a ninth month.

Joblessness has dropped by 1.4 percentage points since October 2013, matching the biggest 12-month slide since 1984. Employment rose by 214,000 workers in October following a 256,000 September increase that was larger than initially estimated as job gains head for their best showing in 15 years.