Businessupdated 28m ago2 min read
U.S. Adds 165,000 Jobs in October as Unemployment Rate Falls to 4.1%
“The strong October data could add to pressure for further rate hikes.”
“the October jobs report ‘is a strong rebuttal to fears that the economy is heading into a meaningful slowdown.”
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Payrolls rose by 165,000 in October, per BLS. Unemployment rate fell to 4.1% in October.
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Jobs surge, unemployment dips
The U.S. economy created 165,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate fell by one tenth to 4.1%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Department of Labor explained that October hiring was driven by a strong boost from professional and business services, health care, and transportation and storage. The data also showed revisions, with August payrolls increasing by 53,000 to 186,000 and September payrolls rising by 29,000 to 60,000.
The report said the average hourly wage for all employees in private nonfarm payrolls rose by 14 cents, or 0.4%, to $38.00, and it cited layoffs announced in October of 43,994 as the lowest for that month since 2023. The unemployment section reported that the total number of unemployed was 7.06 million, including 2 million long-term unemployed (27 weeks or more), representing 27.6% of total unemployed.
Fed leeway and rate pressure
The U.S. labor market beat expectations in October with employment rising in professional and business services, services, health care and social assistance, and transportation and warehousing, the federal agency said. Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS, said, "U.S. employment data have lost real-time precision, but they still have a disproportionate impact on investors". Kevin Warsh, chair of the Federal Reserve, said, "Productivity growth is strong and capital investment is robust," and he added that the unemployment rate had "barely changed."
The October jobs strength also raised the possibility of further rate hikes, with the South China Morning Post saying the strong data could add to pressure for further rate hikes and put the Fed at odds with President Donald Trump. The same report included Trump’s demand, "LOWER THE INTEREST RATES FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND FAST!"
What the numbers mean
The U.S. Department of Labor reported a net increase of 165,000 jobs in October, while economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal had on average expected 59,000 new jobs, according to L'Agefi.
L'Agefi said the department revised upward September to 60,000 from an initial estimate of 29,000, and it revised upward August to 186,000 from an initial estimate of 133,000.
Fox Business said the unemployment rate decreased slightly to 4.1%, which was lower than expectations of economists who predicted it would hold steady at 4.2%.
Fox Business also reported that professional and business services added 70,000 jobs in October, and it said healthcare added 41,600 jobs in October.
Fox Business stated that the number of people employed part-time for economic reasons rose by 339,000 to 4.8 million in October, and it described those workers as preferring full-time work but working part-time because their hours were reduced or they could not find full-time jobs.