October Jobs Report Blows Away Forecasts, August And September Also Look Better

Posted on by in U.S. Economic News
US-Dept.-Labor-Building
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm U.S. payrolls increased by 171,000 jobs in October, far above economists’ forecast for 125,000 new jobs.  In a separate survey, the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9%.

In addition to October’s numbers, both August and September saw significant revisions, with the August number bumped higher by 50,000 jobs and September was 34,000 higher than originally reported.

Hiring was widespread throughout the economy, with private sector payrolls up by 184,000 last month.  Unlike last month, government jobs decreased by 13,000 in October.

The size of the labor force grew by 578,000 workers in October, with the labor force participation rate moving higher by two-tenths of a percentage point to 63.8%.

Stocks reacted favorably to the numbers, with the S&P 500 and the SPY ETF gaining 0.45% after the 8:30 a.m. release.  Banks rallied, with Bank of America higher by 1.75%, Citigroup was up 0.5%.  Gold dropped, with the GLD ETF falling 1.2% pre-market.

[This article was published by Forbes on Friday, November 2nd.  It was written by John Dobosz.]

Written by