WASHINGTON (AP) ― A surge in hiring last month helped drive the nation’s unemployment rate down to a six-year low of 5.9 percent ― within striking distance of what economists consider a healthy level.

The encouraging numbers ― contained in the last government report on unemployment before the midterm elections ― pushed the Dow Jones average up 209 points to 17,010 and could give an important boost at the polls to Democrats and to incumbents in general.

U.S. employers added a robust 248,000 jobs in September and generated 69,000 more jobs in July and August than previously reported, the government said Friday. That helped bring unemployment down from 6.1 percent in August.

The jobless rate now stands at the lowest level since July 2008, in the middle of the Great Recession, and is getting close to the roughly 5.5 percent that the Federal Reserve considers consistent with a healthy economy.