The jobless rate unexpectedly fell in October while employers added fewer jobs than forecast, illustrating the “frustratingly slow” progress cited by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke this week.

The unemployment rate fell to a six-month low of 9 percent from 9.1 percent, even as the labor force expanded. The 80,000 increase in payrolls followed gains in the prior two months that were revised up by 102,000, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington.

The crisis in Europe and a looming deadline on U.S. budget talks may be prompting companies to delay hiring on concern failure to reach resolutions will put the global recovery at risk. Fed policy makers project the jobless rate won't drop below 8 percent until 2013 at the earliest, one reason why Bernanke this week said additional stimulus “remains on the table.”