The U.S. economy gained 261,000 jobs in October, and unemployment was little changed at 4.1%, according to figures released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This continues the recovery of the labor market at a tempered rate, which means the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee should continue to let the economy grow and not raise interest rates.
In response to the October jobs numbers, AFL-CIO Chief Economist William Spriggs tweeted:
#jobsreport wages fell, September to October, over the year only rose 2.4%, with 3.0% boost in productivity no reason for Fed to raise rate
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) November 3, 2017
#jobsreport a big part of the October increase was the 89,000 job bounce-back for food establishments closed by Harvey and Irma @AFLCIO
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) November 3, 2017
#jobsreport on the good news side, part-time wanting full-time, long term unemployed numbers fall, job quitters up @AFLCIO
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) November 3, 2017
#jobsreport Over the year, unemployment rates fall for all major occupation groups, especially construction and production workers @AFLCIO pic.twitter.com/sIk6PbHBIN
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) November 3, 2017
#jobsreport labor force participation rates continues downward trend--no surprise that supply won't increase without wages @AFLCIO pic.twitter.com/yruVxmWnBj
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) November 3, 2017
#jobsreport broadest measure of unemployment (including involuntary part-time, discouraged workers) falls to level near pre-2008 @AFLCIO pic.twitter.com/VX3ZWhbiWP
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) November 3, 2017
#jobsreport uncertainty from attacks on Medicaid, payrolls at nursing care facility down 12.2K from last year, but edges up in Oct. @AFLCIO
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) November 3, 2017
Why 45's tax plan is bad: @AFSCME state and local employment edge up only 4,000, but with drops in state education and local non-education,
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) November 3, 2017
Why 45's tax plan is wrong: corporations with record profits and massive cash balances have not used them to raise pay so far @AFLCIO pic.twitter.com/vnQFHT6aK0
— William E. Spriggs (@WSpriggs) November 3, 2017
Last month's biggest job gains were in food services and drinking places (89,000), professional and business services (50,000), manufacturing (24,000) and health care (22,000). Employment in other major industries, including mining, construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities and government, changed little in October.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult women (3.6%) and whites (3.5%) declined in October. The jobless rates for teenagers (13.7%), blacks (7.5%), Hispanics (4.8%), adult men (3.8%) and Asians (3.1%) showed little change.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed in October, and accounted for 24.8% of the unemployed.