U.S. employers added 165,000 jobs in October, more than double the 65,000 economists had forecast, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Friday. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent.
Professional and business services led the gains with 70,000 new jobs, followed by healthcare at 42,000 and transportation and warehousing at 25,000. Manufacturing added 19,000 jobs for the month.
The BLS also revised its August and September figures upward, reporting 84,000 more jobs were added in those two months than originally estimated.
Wages rose as well, with average hourly earnings up 0.4 percent in October and 3.1 percent over the past year.
Administration reaction
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett appeared on television Friday morning to discuss the figures, calling it “really one of the better jobs weeks that I’ve ever seen.”
“And now we have a jobs report that was way more than double expectation, and the upward revisions were ginormous for the last couple of months,” Hassett said. “What we’ve got is a job market that’s hitting on all cylinders.”
Hassett pointed to a decrease in unemployment claims, a large number of job openings, and an increase in workers voluntarily quitting their jobs as additional signs of labor market strength, saying the trend suggests Americans are confident they can find better employment elsewhere.
