U.S. Adds 250K Jobs in October, Unemployment Stays at 3.7%

Friday, November 02, 2018

GoLocalPDX Business Team

The United States added 250,000 jobs in October, while unemployment is at 3.7%, according to the Labor Department hiring and unemployment report released on Friday.

“Wow! The U.S. Added 250,000 jobs in October - and this was despite the hurricanes. Unemployment at 3.7%. Wages UP! These are incredible numbers. Keep it going,” said President Donald Trump on Twitter.

U.S. Adds Jobs

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 250,000 in October.

Over the month, the labor force increased by 711,000 and the labor force participation rate increased by 0.2 percentage point to 62.9 percent.

Employment increased in health care, in manufacturing, in construction, and in transportation and warehousing.

According to the Labor Department, healthcare added 36,000 jobs, manufacturing added 32,000 jobs and construction added 30,000 jobs.

Unemployment Rate at 3.7%

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7 percent in October.

The unemployment rate is a 49-year-low, while Hispanic unemployment rate reached its lowest rate ever at 4.4%.

According to the Labor Department, the number of people who had been searching for work for 27 weeks or longer was 1.4 million.

These long-term unemployed accounted for 22.5 percent of the total unemployed.