Washington

EMPLOYERS added more than 200,000 workers to payrolls in October for a ninth consecutive month and the jobless rate dropped to the lowest level in six years as the American economy powered past a global slowdown.

The 214,000 increase in employment followed a 256,000 advance the prior month that was more than initially estimated, Labor Department figures showed on Friday in Washington. The jobless rate fell to 5.8 per cent, as more people entered the labour force, boosting the share of the population working to the highest in five years.