The unemployment rate “fell sharply” to 6.9%, lower than at any point during the first term of the Obama/Biden Administration.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had predicted the unemployment would remain well above that at 7.7%.
Unemployment rates for minority Americans also declined significantly:
- The unemployment rate for African Americans declined 1.3% to 10.8%.
- The unemployment rate for Hispanic Americans declined 1.5% to 8.8%
- The unemployment rate for Asian Americans declined 1.3% to 7.6%
- The unemployment rate for women declined 1.3% to 6.7%.
The Labor Force Participation Rate ticked up to 61.7% as the number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job decreased by 539,000 to 6.7 million in October.
The University of Michigan’s Justin Wolfers pointed out that the decline in the unemployment rate occurred even as the labor force grew by 724,000, which is “good news” for Americans.
The New York Times’ Ben Casselman: “The big drop in the unemployment rate looks like it was for entirely "good" reasons: Gain in employment, drop in unemployment, larger labor force.”
JOB GROWTH CONTINUED TO SHOW STRENGTH, BEATING EXPECTATIONS AS INDUSTRIES HIT HARDEST BY THE PANDEMIC SURGED
The U.S. added 638,000 jobs in October, beating expectations .
The employment level for African Americans rose by 433,000.
The employment level for Hispanic rose by 785,000.
The employment level for women rose by 280,000.
Among the big contributors to the October increase were two industries hit hard by the pandemic: food and drink establishments, which added 192,000 jobs, and retail, which picked up 104,000.
The survey of households showed an even stronger level of job growth, with the total employment level rising by 2.24 million and the employment to population ratio increasing by 0.8 percentage points to 57.4%.
TODAY’S “BETTER THAN EXPECTED” REPORT DREW PRAISE AS EXPERTS WERE ONCE AGAIN SHOCKED BY THE STRENGTH OF THE TRUMP ECONOMY
The Washington Post’s Heather Long: Today’s jobs report was “better than expected.”
CNBC on jobs report: “These are big numbers,” “unbelievable.”
Dean Baker, Economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, praised “another big job gain” revealed in Today’s report.
Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow at Center on Budget: “Some unexpected strength in today’s jobs report.”
Carl R. Tannenbaum, Chief Economist with Northern Trust: “The jobs report provides another surprise,” and “showed an increase of 2.2 million in total employment last month, a shockingly large number.”
Guy LeBas, Janney Chief Fixed Income Strategist: “I’m struggling to find something negative to pull out of the payrolls report, and it’s just not there.”
Nick Bunker, Economist with Indeed, called the latest jobs report “a nice surprise.”
Diane Swonk, chief economist at the accounting firm Grant Thornton in Chicago: “he drop in the unemployment rate is welcome news.”
THE GREAT AMERICAN COMEBACK IS ON TRACK AS THE LABOR MARKET “CONTINUES TO HEAL” AFTER THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
The New York Times: Today’s report shows that “the labor market continues to heal” even amid continued coronavirus concerns.
CNBC’s Rick Santelli: “Spectacular” jobs report shows the Great American Comeback is dramatically outpacing Obama recovery.
Steve Moore: “We are in the midst of the greatest super v recovery in history.”
Kathy Jones, Chief Fixed Income Strategist at the Schwab Center for Financial Research: “Upside surprise indicating further progress in the recovery.”
Daniel Zhao, Economist at Glassdoor: The Trump “recovery continues to beat expectations month after month.”
