U.S. economy added 161,000 jobs in October as unemployment rate dipped to 4.9 percent
By Ana Swanson November 4 at 8:32 AM
America’s labor market continues to show signs of gradual strengthening, with newly released data showing that the economy added 161,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.9 percent in October, data from the Labor Department showed.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the U.S. to add 173,000 new jobs in October, up from an addition of 156,000 jobs in September.
The final piece of economic data to be released before the presidential election on Tuesday, the jobs report showed an economy that is steadily strengthening but still under the shadow of the Great Recession. Analysts said Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump could seize on varying aspects of that data to make their closing arguments in the campaign.
The employment figures, which come on the heels of an unexpectedly strong gain in U.S. economic growth in the third quarter, are likely to further lift expectations for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at its upcoming mid-December meeting.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/04/u-s-economy-added-161000-jobs-in-october-as-unemployment-rate-dipped-to-4-9-percent/