Employers added 80,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate dropped slightly to 9%, the Labor Department reported today.

Of the 13.9 million unemployed people in October –down from 14 million in September– 6.9 million had been without jobs for 27 weeks or more.

It is the first movement in the nation's unemployment rate since June as the rate had been 9.1% in July, August and September. The unemployment rate has been between 9% and 9.2% since April. As in September, there were job gains in professional business services, health care and construction while government employment declined. The sluggish economic recovery, which the Federal Reserve http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/fomcprojtabl20111102.pdf

said this week could continue into next year and beyond, and the high fees charged by banks are proving the impetus for tomorrow's Bank Transfer Day. http://www.cutimes.com/2011/11/01/bank-transfer-day-live-coverage

Yesterday, CUNA reported that 650,000 people have joined credit unions since September.