The jobless rate dips to 10% as U.S. employers shed far fewer jobs than expected last month

Employers in the U.S. cut the fewest jobs in November since the recession began and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell, signaling the recovery is lifting the labor market out of the worst employment slump in the post-World War II era.
Payrolls fell by 11,000 workers, less than the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. The jobless rate declined to 10%.

The Obama administration, under pressure after almost half of the 7.2 million jobs lost during the recession occurred since the president's inauguration, is considering additional measures to boost job growth. Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, has pledged to maintain record-low interest rates until joblessness subsides, even as a recovery takes hold.
"We're getting closer to the point where companies will need to hire back workers," Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank (DB) Securities in New York, said before the report. "We're going to see an improvement in hiring just because firms have cut so much."
Stock futures rallied and Treasury yields rose after the report. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index expiring this month added 1.3% to 1,112.5 at 8:36 a.m. in New York. The yield on the government's 10-year note increased to 3.47% from 3.39% late yesterday.
Revisions added 159,000 from payroll figures previously reported for October and September. The October reading was revised to show a 111,000 drop in jobs compared with an initially reported 190,000 decline.