Fewer jobless in the US

The number of unemployed Americans fell in September to its lowest level in six years, underscoring progress made in the US jobs market this year, the Labor Department said Friday.

The jobless rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 5.9 percent, meaning there were 9.3 million people lacking gainful employment although they are fit to work. That number dropped by 329,000 from August to the lowest it has been since July 2008.

But the report did come with a few caveats - notably that one of the reasons the unemployment rate fell was due to discouraged jobseekers giving up their hunt for work.

In the past year, the number of people looking for work has declined by 1.9 million while the unemployment rate has fallen from 7.2 percent.

The government also said 248,000 more jobs had been added to non-farm payrolls in September, adding that nearly 70,000 more jobs than anticipated had been added to payrolls in July and August.

In another economic report, the Commerce Department said the US trade deficit had narrowed by 0.5 percent to $40.1 billion (31.7 euros) on an increase in exports. That marked the trade gap's smallest level in seven months.

But the strong economic data coming out of Washington does not mean the US economy is out of the woods just yet. Officials at the Federal Reserve are still wary of the low inflation rate, which shows that there is still ample room for improvement.

Financial market analysts noted that they do not expect the Fed to raise its benchmark lending rates, which currently stand near zero, until sometime close to summer next year.

cjc/ng (Reuters, dpa)