In September, the number of unemployed dropped by 37,200 to 665,800, as people looking for full-time work decreased by 38,000 to 449,700, while those only looking for part-time work increased by 900 to 216,100.
Employment went up 5,600 to 12,636,300, missing estimates of an increase of 15,000. Full-time employment increased 20,300 to 8,654,400 and part-time employment decreased 14,700 to 3,981,900.
The labor force participation rate edged down 0.2 points from a month earlier to 65.4 percent and below consensus 65.7 percent. Meantime, the employment to population ratio remained steady at 62.2 percent.
Seasonally adjusted monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 6.2 million hours, or 0.4 percent, to 1,757.5 million hours.