Average hourly earnings slipped by one cent, leaving them unchanged in percentage terms, in part because of the return of the lower-paid industry workers. That lowered the year-on-year increase to 2.4 percent, which was the smallest since February 2016. Wages shot up 0.5 percent in September, lifting the annual increase in that month to 2.9 percent. Although the unemployment rate fell to near a 17-year low of 4.1 percent, it was because the labor force dropped by 765,000 after a surprise jump of 575,000 in September. The labor force participation rate, or the proportion of working-age Americans who have a job or are looking for one, fell four-tenths of a percentage point to 62.7 percent.
U.S. job growth speeds up, unemployment rate falls
U.S. job growth accelerated in October after hurricane-related disruptions in the prior month, but a sharp retreat in annual wage gains and surge in the number of people dropping out of the work force cast a cloud over the labor market. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 261,000 jobs last month as 106,000 leisure and hospitality workers returned to work, the Labor Department said in its closely watched employment report on Friday. That was the largest gain since July 2016 but below economists’ expectations for an increase of 310,000 jobs. Data for September was revised to show a gain of 18,000 jobs instead of a decline of 33,000 as previously reported. Some aspects of the report, however, were downbeat.
- Popular
-
UK still likely to leave the EU with a negotiated agreement, says Number 10
A successful deal with the European Union remains the “most…
-
Sentix Investors Confidence rose to 14.7 in August
The summer heat in Europe is also causing economic temperatures…
-
German factory orders -4.0% seasonally adjusted on the previous month
Based on provisional data, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reports…
-
China's July exports growth still seen holding up despite U.S. tariffs: Reuters poll
China's exports are expected to have maintained solid growth in…