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Economy Gains 261,000 Jobs in October; Unemployment Inches Up to 3.7%

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The U.S. economy gained 261,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate inched up to 3.7%, according to figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Continuing strong job creation numbers are a clear sign that the worker-friendly policies implemented by President Biden continue to have a positive impact on working people.

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

Over the last three months, the annualized average wage growth has slowed to 3.9%. That is a rate of wage growth set to have real wages grow with productivity, at the Federal Reserve's 2% inflation target.

He also tweeted the following:

October's biggest job gains were in health care (+53,000), professional and technical services (+43,000), leisure and hospitality (+35,000), manufacturing (+32,000), social assistance (+19,000), wholesale trade (+15,000), transportation and warehousing (+8,000) and financial activities (+3,000). Employment changed little over the month in other major industries, including mining, construction, retail trade, information, other services, and government.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult women (3.4%) and White Americans (3.2%) rose in October. The jobless rates for teenagers (11.0%), Black Americans (5.9%), Hispanic Americans (4.2%), adult men (3.3%), and Asian Americans (2.9%) showed little or no change over the month.

The number of long-term unemployed workers (those jobless for 27 weeks or longer) in October remained about the same as in September and accounted for 19.5% of the total people unemployed.