U.S. employers added 165,000 jobs in October, far more than expected, and unemployment fell to 4.1%, suggesting a stronger-than-expected labor market that remained strong overall but uneven.
After accounting for seasonal patterns, payrolls rose by 165,000, nearly three times the 59,000 increase expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and CNBC. Professional and business services led the gains with 70,000 jobs, while health care added 42,000 and transportation and warehousing added 25,000. The BLS also revised August and September job growth upward by a combined 84,000.
The revised gains were 186,000 in August and 60,000 in September, respectively. Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% over the month and 3.1% from a year earlier, both above forecasts cited by CNBC. The unemployment rate fell from 4.2% in September.
But the BLS said it had stayed within a narrow range of 4.1% to 4.3% since March. Other measures were less upbeat. The number of people working part time for economic reasons rose by 339,000 to 4.8 million.
A broader measure of unemployment rose to 7.9%. Taken together, the report points to firm hiring. But the rise in people working part time when they would rather have full-time jobs suggests that strong headline figures do not mean every worker is finding full-time employment.