11 UPDATED: 315,000 People Stopped Looking for Work

News is out this morning that the U.S. Unemployment Rate fell to 8.6%, the lowest rate in more than two years:

WALL STREET JOURNAL via THE CORNER: Nonfarm payrolls rose by 120,000 last month, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday in its monthly survey of employers. Private companies added 140,000 jobs, while the public sector—federal, state and local governments—lost 20,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households, fell to 8.6% in November from 9.0% the previous month. The rate hadn’t been below 9% since March, when it was 8.8%. The rate is now lower than at any point since March 2009, when it was 8.6% as well.

In another positive development, October’s figure for nonfarm payrolls was revised upward to show a gain of 100,000 from a previously reported 80,000, while September was revised up to a 210,000 gain from 158,000.

The results, while confirming the labor market remains sluggish, were broadly positive and may boost stock markets Friday. . . . Read More

UPDATE: Before the media touts this as proof everything is now OK with the Economy, note that one of the main reasons for the drop is that “roughly 315,000 people gave up looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.”