The release of the October jobs report today is shifting the attention of the presidential election back to the economy, as both Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton use the report to propel their campaigns in the final days before the Nov. 8 election, The New York Times reports.
For the candidates, the latest report, which shows the unemployment dropping to 4.9% last month from 5% in September, is allowing each side to offer its own distinctive narrative of the economy’s performance and prospects.
Trump, who surged to the top of the Republican ticket in part by economic anxiety and a surge in voter anger among the white working class, is emphasizing the negatives of the report.
He argues that jobs have been disappearing, highlighting the continuing loss of well-paid manufacturing jobs as production moves to other countries. October’s report shows continued decline in that sector, with the loss of 9,000 jobs.
Clinton, by contrast, is emphasizing the progress that President Barack Obama made in digging the country out of the recession, pointing to the creation of roughly 15 million jobs since 2010.
The data show that more jobs were created in August and September than previously estimated. The revisions show 44,000 more positions had been created, bringing the monthly average over the last three months to 176,000.
Even more encouraging is the robust bump in wages, the most concrete sign that the labor market is tightening, and that ordinary workers are finally getting a slice of the rewards.
