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Washington A better-than-expected report on the US job market Friday could give a modest to lift to struggling Democrats, one month before an election that could flip control of the Senate to Republicans.

The economy created a robust 248,000 jobs in September and the official unemployment rate fell to 5.9 percent from 6.1 percent the month before, the Labor Department reported.

Thats welcome news for US workers, and in political terms, such signs of economic improvement tend to buoy the party that controls the White House.

But despite a string of solid job reports in recent months, the state of the economy is, at best, providing modest support to Democrats in key races. Far from assuring that Democrats can retain their narrow control of the Senate, the improvingjob market is simply helping them to stay in the election game.

Republicans need a net gain of six Senate seats to take charge.

President Obama, seeking to help his party, is doing his best to capitalize on the job markets improvement.

When I took office, businesses were laying off 800,000 Americans a month. Today, our businesses are hiring 200,000 Americans a month, Mr. Obama said Thursday, in a speech at Northwestern University near Chicago.

A political challenge, however, is that the economy still isnt nearly as strong as Americans would like and the presidents popularity is also suffering from other factors like handling of foreign policy that have nothing to do with the economy.

Although unemployment has fallen sharply from its post-recession high of about 10 percent, the total share of Americans who have jobs has recovered only modestly to 59 percent of adults, down from about 63 percent just before the recession.

Part of that reflects the demographics of the baby boom, as more Americans are hittingretirement age.But it also reflects an economy where many potential workers arent optimistic enough to even look for work. Those on the sidelines arent counted in the official unemployment rate.

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Unemployment drops below 6 percent: Can it help Democrats? (+video)

A sign directs voters at a polling site in Atlanta. "Georgia is changing dramatically," Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jason Carter says. "There's no doubt that Georgia is next in line as a national battleground state." David Goldman/AP hide caption

A sign directs voters at a polling site in Atlanta. "Georgia is changing dramatically," Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jason Carter says. "There's no doubt that Georgia is next in line as a national battleground state."

The Democratic National Committee is running a Spanish language ad on radio stations in North Carolina and Georgia, where there are competitive U.S. Senate races.

"Republicans think we're going to stay home," the ad says. "It's time to rise up."

Democrats see opportunity in Southern states with fast-growing minority populations and an influx of people relocating to the Sun Belt. In Georgia, there's a push to register new voters in hopes of turning a red state blue.

Becks Nix spends most weekends at festivals, like the Fall Festival at Atlanta's Candler Park, working a voter registration booth for the gay rights group Georgia Equality.

"Are y'all registered Georgia voters?" Nix asks passersby.

Anastasia Fort says she needs to check because she just moved to a new neighborhood. Nix tells her how to make sure she's on the voter rolls.

"Because things are tight," Nix says, "we feel like it's even more important that people are not only registered but are actively engaged in what's going on."

Fort admits she's not so engaged. Her friend Steve Stuglin is shocked.

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As Populations Shift, Democrats Hope To Paint The Sun Belt Blue

By Jeremy Diamond, CNN

updated 11:40 AM EDT, Fri October 3, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- Republicans have a response to the news Friday morning that U.S. unemployment dropped beneath 6% for the first time since 2008: "We can do better."

"Slow job growth may be good enough for Democrats, but Republicans know we can do better," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement. "While we're glad to see some Americans finally finding work, we can't lose sight of the fact that we should have been at this point years ago."

House Speaker John Boehner also sounded off on the jobs report, knocking Democrats for refusing to vote on "dozens of good jobs bills" that Republicans passed in his chamber.

Boehner also accused President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats of presiding "over a new normal of flat wages, higher prices, and too many part-time jobs."

"Every day I hear from people in my district who say no matter how hard they work, they still struggle to make ends meet," Boehner said in a statement. "Instead of trying to convince Americans that things are great, Washington Democrats ought to show they're serious about helping middle-class families get ahead, not just get by."

Unemployment falls below 6% for first time since 2008

While Democrats as well said there was more work to be done, the Obama administration championed the better-than-expected jobs numbers.

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Priebus: Jobs report 'good enough for Democrats'

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