The U.S. unemployment rate improved in July, with businesses creating more jobs than most economists had predicted.

Friday’s closely watched report from the Labor Department says the U.S. jobless rate declined one-tenth of a percent to 9.1 percent.

The U.S. economy had a net gain of 117,000 jobs, which is better than the previous month.

The report is a slight improvement in the battered U.S. job market, and is likely to be welcomed by investors after a drastic stock sell-off around the world on Thursday.

Worries about job security have been hurting the U.S. economy by making consumers less likely to do the spending that drives most U.S. economic activity.