American businesses added 126,000 new jobs in October, the third straight month of job growth, the government announced on Friday.
The nation's unemployment rate now stands at an even 6 percent, the Labor Department announced, the first decline since August. The September unemployment rate was 6.1 percent.
The improving job picture comes after a week of positive economic reports.
Last week, the government reported that the U.S. economy expanded at its fastest rate in 19 years, as third-quarter gross domestic product, a measure of all the goods and services produced in the U.S., rose at a 7.2 percent annual rate, more than double the 3.3 percent rate in the second quarter of 2003.
On Thursday, the number of first-time unemployment claims for the week ending November 1 fell to 348,000 from the previous week's total of 391,000 -- a decline of some 43,000 jobless claims, and the lowest level of claims since January 2001, the Labor Department reported. Also on Thursday, the government reported a strong rise in business productivity.
Analysts said Friday's report on jobs bodes well for the economic recovery that began two years ago. If the momentum continues, it may boost President George W. Bush's reelection prospects in the months ahead.
In a speech on Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the odds...do increasingly favor a revival of job creation.''
But in that same speech to the U.S. securities industry, Greenspan also admitted he is concerned about the nation's expanding budget deficit: "The relatively optimistic short-term outlook for the U.S. economy is playing out against a backdrop of growing longer-term concern in financial markets about our federal budget," he said.
Not buying it
A grass-roots group that supports Democrats called the recent economic improvements nothing more than "temporary gain" that will lead to 'lasting pain."
"When the short-term fix stimulated by the Bush tax cuts drifts away, the country is likely to be left with wage decline and inequality, the largest deficit in history and millions of Americans still out of work," said MoveOn.org in a press release.
The group, which calls President Bush the "Misleader," accused him of distorting the facts in his speeches on economic policy.
MoveOn.org emphasized the negative in its press release, noting that "spending plunged in September, car sales were down in October and retail sales are looking weak."
"While we all were heartened by the recent short spurt of growth, stimulated by the mix of tax cuts and widespread consumer mortgage refinancing, it unfortunately already appears to be fading into history," the group said.
The economy is expected to be a major point of contention in next year's presidential election.
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