US adds 165,000 jobs in October and trims unemployment to 4.1%
The United States added 165,000 jobs in October, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures released on Friday, and the unemployment rate eased slightly to 4.1 percent. The gain topped economist expectations and was presented as a sign of resilience while inflation and war in the Middle East continue. Analysts had described a “low-hire, low-fire” labor market in which hiring is sluggish but layoffs stay limited; October still fit that pattern even as it beat forecasts. Average hourly earnings rose 3.1 percent on an annual basis, a bit faster than the prior month, while September’s annualized inflation rate was 3.7 percent, so prices have still been outrunning wages. August and September payrolls were revised up by a combined 84,000 jobs. Hiring was concentrated in healthcare, transportation, warehousing and manufacturing. Separate data showed September layoffs at their lowest in a year and a half, and Challenger, Gray & Christmas counted just under 44,000 October layoffs, 71 percent fewer than a year earlier. The report followed a midterm election that solidified Democrats’ control of Congress for two years, with polls pointing to frustration over gas and grocery prices. Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said before the release that voters had judged the economy as squeezing households and that the labor market illustrated that strain. Gasoline averaged a dollar a gallon more than a year ago because of the war in Iran, and diesel was 60 percent above prewar levels. The Federal Reserve raised rates in September for the first time since 2023, to 3.75–4 percent, then held them in October; economists expect another hike in December. Markets were also unsettled by AI-spending worries, with the Nasdaq slipping back into a 10 percent correction on Thursday after a brief Wednesday rebound.
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