U.S. Oct. Nonfarm Payrolls Increase By 204,000; Prior Months Revised Up Job creation accelerated in October and the prior two months of data were revised up, raising the prospect that the labor market may be strengthening enough for the Federal Reserve to start pulling back its easy-money policies soon. U.S. payrolls advanced by 204,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday. That was well above economists forecast for an increase of 120,000. The prior two months were revised up by a total of 60,000. The September gain was revised to 163,000 from an initial estimate of 148,000, and the August payroll improvement was revised to 238,000 from 193,000. The Labor Department said the private sector added 212,000 jobs in October, the strongest gain since February, suggesting companies shrugged off the government shutdown last month. Average job creation over the past three months now exceeds a 200,000 pace, matching the strong gains recorded in early in the year. The improvement might allow Federal Reserve policy makers to consider reducing the pace of the $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program at its next meeting, set for December. The Fed has tied a reduction in bond purchases, which are aimed at driving down interest rates and encouraging spending and hiring, to improvement in the labor market. The nations unemployment rate, obtained through a separate survey of households, rose slightly to 7.3% from 7.2% in September. The small increase--the first in three months--reflects federal employees who were furloughed last month in a 16-day government shutdown. Those workers have been classified as unemployed during the week reflected in the survey, even though they later returned to their jobs and received back pay. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected an unemployment rate of 7.4% in October. Job creation had slowed in the spring and early summer but appears to have picked up the pace since August. The leisure and hospitality sector added 53,000 jobs last month and manufacturing added 19,000 jobs. The federal government shed 12,000 jobs. The federal tally was unlikely to have been hit by the shutdown because employees remained on payrolls. Still, the latest data show 11.3 million Americans who wanted a job and were looking couldnt find employment in October. In addition, many workers could only obtain part-time jobs. A broader measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers and those working part-time, but who want full-time employment, rose to 13.8% from 13.6% in September.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 13:53:06 +0000
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