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Much to the surprise of many, the jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 8.6 percent last month from 9 percent in October.  This marks the lowest unemployment rate since March 2009.

Payrolls jumped to 120,000, which is to be expected considering ‘tis the season to seek out temporary jobs in retail shops, as well as college kids trying to earn a quick buck during their semester break.  Additionally, there was a 278,000 gain in employment, while 315,000 workers left the labor force.

This is moderately optimistic news.  Any time you see a drop in the unemployment rate, it says that the economy is growing, no matter how small of a drop it is.  However, it shows that the economy is gradually healing.

A gradual heal is better than no heal, right?

The unemployment rate has hovered around the 9 percent line for quite some time now, so falling below the 9 percent line is cause for celebration in my book.

What’s more intriguing to me is the “underemployment rate” and how that fares.  The underemployment rate is sort of like the WH/IP statistic in baseball: not too many people know about it, but it can show a lot (for those of you who don’t know, the WH/IP is a statistic for a pitcher that shows how many walks plus hits divided, by innings pitched, a pitcher gives up).

The underemployment rate takes into consideration part-time workers who want a full-time job and people who want to work but stopped looking, whereas the unemployment rate just gauges people who are without jobs and have actively sought work in the past four weeks.

This figure decreased to 15.6 percent from 16.2 percent last month.  That clearly shows that more people are trying to advance from their part-time positions and jump into a full-time role.  It also shows that people have not given up hope for finding employment.

The market has already felt the impact of this positive news.  10-year note yields were hit slightly and rose three basis points (0.03 percentage point) to 2.12 percent.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 100+ points in early morning trading, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both saw gains as well.

We will have to see whether or not this positivity will trump fears from Europe.  In my eyes, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

How could it not be?

Eric Mally is a writer for Quicken Loans, a company whose clients believe it’s Engineered to Amaze.  Interested in being Amazed by us? Read trusted reviews at Quicken Loans Reviews and at Epinions.

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