US unemployment rate falls to 8.4% even as hiring slows

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. unemployment dropped sharply in August to a still-high 8.4% from 10.2%, with about half the 22 million jobs lost to the coronavirus outbreak recovered so far,  the government said Friday in one of the last major economic reports before Election Day. Employers added 1.4 million jobs last month, the Labor Department…