As the economy continues to grow very slowly, a new Labor Department report shows the unemployment rate fell slightly in October.
    
The number of people out of work dropped by a tenth of a point to 9 percent, the first drop since July.

The economy added only 80,000 new jobs, the lowest number in four months.

Economists project that job growth will remain slow in the months ahead.

The Federal Reserve expects the unemployment rate will be averaging 8.6 percent by the end of next year.