Unemployment rate drops to 3.7 percent — lowest since 1969

The unemployment rate for September dropped two-tenths of a point from August to 3.7 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of unemployed people in the U.S. shrank by 270,000 to 6 million.

This is the lowest unemployment rate since 1969.

Here's what you need to know

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its jobs report for September.

The number of part-time workers who would have preferred to have full-time jobs rose by 263,000 to 4.6 million. Average hourly earnings for private, non-farm employees also rose this month by 8 cents, reaching $27.24.

The unemployment rate for September 2017 was 4.2 percent. September's unemployment rate has decreased or remained the same every year since it hit a high of 9.8 percent in 2009.

The number of unemployed people who have given up looking for jobs because they believe that none are available was the same as it was in September 2017.

However, the number of jobs added was only 134,000, down from 270,000 in August. Before the official jobs report came out, economists had estimated that the number of jobs added for September would reach 185,000. According to the BLS, the average monthly gain in jobs for the past 12 months has been 201,000.

Unemployment rates for African-Americans fell slightly from 6.3 percent to 6 percent. This is the lowest it has ever been, with the exception of May when it hit 5.9 percent. In March 2010, African-American unemployment had hit 16.8 percent.

Unemployment rates for other individual groups of workers stayed roughly the same from last month: 3.5 percent for Asian-Americans, 4.5 percent for Hispanics, 3.3 percent for women, and 12.8 percent for teenagers.

What else?

President Donald Trump touted the low unemployment numbers in a tweet on Friday.