Three days after voters registered their sourness about the U.S. economy, the government reports this morning that employers added a solid 214,000 jobs in October, extending the healthiest pace of hiring in eight years.
The Labor Department also says a combined 31,000 more jobs were added in August and September than it had previously estimated. Employers have now added at least 200,000 jobs for nine straight months—the longest such stretch since 1995.
The burst of hiring lowered the unemployment rate to 5.8% from 5.9% in September. It is the lowest rate since July 2008. Yet workers’ average hourly pay rose only slightly, a glaring weak spot in an otherwise solid report.
As The Associated Press reports, voters identified the economy as their top concern in Tuesday’s elections. That suggests that economic improvement hasn’t yet been felt by many Americans. The sluggish pace of pay growth is a likely factor.
Average hourly pay rose 3 cents in October to $24.57. That’s just 2% higher than the average wage was 12 months earlier and is barely ahead of the 1.7% inflation rate.
Still, the brightening jobs picture led more people to start looking for work last month. The percentage of Americans who either have a job or are looking for one rose in October to 62.8%. And 267,000 people who had been out of work said they were now employed. Their hiring reduced the number of unemployed to just under 9 million. Read the full story.
