Teenagers and younger workers landed jobs in October hiring spurt

Younger workers benefited from the October uptick in hiring.

While still high, the unemployment rate for teenagers fell to 18.6 percent from 20 percent in September as 266,000 of them landed jobs. The jobless rate for workers in their early 20s declined to 10.5 percent from 11.4 percent.

The overall U.S. unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 5.8 percent, its lowest level since July 2008. And employers surveyed by the government reported that they added 214,000 jobs overall in September.

The gains for younger workers came from a separate survey of households that is part of the Labor Department's monthly jobs data.

Unemployment rates fell for both men and women, but they rose for older workers and recent veterans.