Unemployment rate falls to 6.1 percent

The unemployment rate is down to just 6.1 percent, according to the latest jobs figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The U.S. economy created a net 142,000 new jobs in August. That's decent job growth, but significantly less than the 230,000 jobs that economists were expecting. More disappointingly, the labor force participation rate fell to 62.8 percent, from 62.9 percent.

Such middling numbers will put pressure on the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates lower for longer, even after the end of its quantitative easing stimulus program.

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