Payrolls climb, jobless rate falls

(AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) — Employment gains exceeded 200,000 for a ninth straight month in October and the jobless rate unexpectedly fell to a six-year low, indicating companies are optimistic the economy will withstand a slowdown in some overseas markets.

The 214,000 increase in employment followed a 256,000 advance the prior month that was more than initially estimated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 100 economists called for a 235,000 advance. The jobless rate declined to 5.8 percent, even as more people entered the labor force, boosting the share of the population working to the highest in five years.