ECONOMY
US Added Just 150,000 Jobs In October After September Hiring Surge
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The U.S. economy added just 150,000 jobs in October, in a sign of a cooling job market after adding a robust 336,000 jobs in September, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The unemployment rate of 3.9% in October changed little from the 3.8% recorded in September, after hovering between 3.4% and 3.7% for more than a year before that. There were 6.5 million unemployed people in October, the agency said, an increase of about 849,000 from April lows.
October’s strongest jobs gains came in the healthcare sector, with 58,000 jobs added, followed by government, with 51,000 jobs added. In construction, 23,000 jobs were added, while the social assistance sector and the leisure and hospitality sector each added around 19,000 jobs.
Meanwhile, employment in manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, information, and financial activities all decreased in October.
Average hourly earnings for all workers on private, nonfarm payrolls rose by 7 cents in September, to $34, the agency said.
The Federal Reserve this week held interest rates steady for the second time in a row, after after aggressive hikes since March of last year to combat inflation.
The central bank maintained the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25% to 5.5%, despite recent indicators of strong economic growth and a resilient labor market even as inflation remains above its target of 2%.
The Fed is likely to see a cooling job market as a good sign of progress toward reducing inflation, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell said there is still a long way to go.
“A few months of good data are only the beginning of what it will take to build confidence that inflation is moving down sustainably toward our goal. The process of getting inflation sustainably down to 2% has a long way to go,” Powell said.
TMX contributed to this article.
