The unemployment rate has fallen to an almost four-year low, according to a Labor Department report released today. The US added an additional 146,000 jobs in November, causing the unemployment rate to move from 7.9 in October to 7.7 in November—the lowest it’s been since December 2008.

Economists had estimated the Labor Department would report only about 86,000 jobs created in November, leaving the unemployment rate flat at 7.9 percent, in large part due to Superstorm Sandy’s impact on the economy of the Northeast.

“Our analysis suggests that Hurricane Sandy did not substantively impact the national employment and unemployment estimates for November,” the Labor Department release said.

Not only did November’s unemployment rate decrease, the Labor Department adjusted its figures for October and September downward.

“The labor market is very much in the recovery stage,” Ethan Harris, co-head of global economics at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, told the New York Times. “It’s a long way from full health with workers having little negotiating power when it comes to raises.“

Average hourly earnings rose by just 4 cents for the month, and over the past 12 months having increased by 1.7 percent, not quite keeping up with the average rate of inflation.

Plus, the falling unemployment rate can be at least partially attributed to a 350,000 drop in the labor force, fueled by workers who gave up looking for work after months or years of frustration. In fact, the number of Americans claiming to have a job actually fell by 122,000.

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Likewise, although the Labor Department reduced its previous unemployment estimates for September and October, it also downwardly revised its job-creation estimates for those months by a combined 49,000.