The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 10 percent in November, the U.S. Labor Department reported this morning, down from 10.2 percent in October, as employers cut the smallest number of jobs since the recession began.

The economy shed 11,000 jobs last month, an improvement from October’s revised total of 111,000. Economists had predicted that businesses would cut 130,000 jobs.

An estimated 15.4 million Americans were out of work in November, 325,000 fewer than were jobless in October.

The employment report comes a day after President Barack Obama hosted a “jobs summit” at the White House, where he told economists, business executives and union leaders that he is “open to every demonstrably good idea” to create jobs.

Obama urged corporate America on Thursday to help tackle the nation’s highest unemployment in 26 years, but also hinted at federal tax credits and aid to states to ease joblessness.

According to the Labor Department report, in November the so-called underemployment rate — which includes part-time workers who want full-time jobs and laid-off workers who have given up looking for work — also fell, to 17.2 percent from 17.5 percent in October.

The Labor Department also reported that the number of hours in the average workweek increased slightly to 33.2 hours, up from a record low of 33 hours. Economists expect employers will increase hours for their current workers before hiring new ones.

Iowa’s unemployment rate is considerably below the national rate; 6.7 percent of Iowans were unemployed in October, the most recent figures reported by Iowa Workforce Development.