US adds 171,000 jobs in October
US employment ticked up in October, official data showed today.
The number of people in employment increased by 171,000 in October, with the professional and business services, health care and retail trade all adding jobs, the US Labour Department said today.
The government also said 84,000 more jobs were created in August and September than initially estimated.
The unemployment rate edged up to 7.9 per cent, which was broadly similar to September.
Daniel Solomon, chief economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, warned today that the good numbers were not enough to sustain the downward trend in the unemployment rate.
“The unemployment rate has been falling consistently since July this year.
“However, October’s unemployment rate was 7.9 per cent – the first rise in four months and in line with consensus expectations. This increase was due to a rise in the participation ratio, which elevated the number of people active in the US labour market,” he said.