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Economy Gains 531,000 Jobs in October; Unemployment Down to 4.6%

BLS

The U.S. economy gained 531,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate declined to 4.6%, according to figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In response to the October job numbers, AFL-CIO Chief Economist William Spriggs tweeted:

Last month’s biggest job gains were in leisure and hospitality (+164,000), professional and business services (+100,000), manufacturing (+60,000), transportation and warehousing (+54,000), construction (+44,000), health care (+37,000), retail trade (+35,000), other services industry (+33,000), financial activities (+21,000), private education (+17,000), wholesale trade (+14,000), information (+10,000) and mining (+5,000). In October, employment decreased in local government education (-43,000) and state government education (-22,000).

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for adult men (4.3%) declined in October. The jobless rates for teenagers (11.9%), Black Americans (7.9%), Hispanics (5.9%), adult women (4.4%), Asian Americans (4.2%) and White Americans (4.0%) showed little or no change over the month.

The number of long-term unemployed workers (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) decreased in October and accounted for 31.6% of the total unemployed.