[ad_1]
The U.S. economy added 150,000 jobs in October, much less than the previous month, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9%.
While some of the biggest job losses were in manufacturing due to the auto-workers strike, the entertainment industry continued to shed employees, with the loss of 5,400 motion picture and sound recording in the sector, to 428,200, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The industry has lost 44,000 jobs since May, at least partly due to the strikes. The WGA approved a new contract earlier in the month, but SAG-AFTRA negotiations continue with studios.
In September, the jobs figures showed an unexpectedly robust rate of job gains, with 336,000 added. But the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised that figure downward, to 297,000. The August figures were also revised down by 62,000, to 165,000. Such changes are often made as the BLS gets more data.
The October job gains, less than expected, are also below the average monthly gain of 258,000 over the past year.
The UAW reached a tentative agreement with General Motors earlier this week, ending the union’s labor actions against Detroit automakers. The jobs data showed that manufacturing employment fell by 35,000 in October, with 33,000 of those jobs in motor vehicles and parts, or primarily due to strike activity.
The Federal Reserve this week chose to keep the federal funds rate at 5.25% to 5.5%. But that has followed 11 increases in the rate, as it has tried to tame inflation yet steer the economy into a so-called soft landing.
Justin Wolfers, professor at the University of Michigan, said that the latest jobs numbers follows the script for a soft landing “remarkably closely.”
“I might have liked a somewhat stronger report, but if you had asked the Fed for a dream numbers, these are them,” he wrote on X/Twitter. “Employment growth is moderating to sustainable levels, labor supply remains robust, and wage growth is moderating to rates consistent with its inflation target.”
Noah Yasif, lead labor economist at UKG, a payroll and shift management software company, wrote in a memo that the labor market is “finding its calm.”
“The days of explosive growth are gone, as the labor market shifts into healthier and more sustainable territory,” he wrote. “All indicators point to a continued lull in the immediate future. It’s a slowdown, not a collapse.”
There were also job losses in publishing, of 4,500, to 925,300, while employment in broadcasting and among content providers remained largely unchanged at 347,700.
The biggest job gains during the month were in health care, government, and social assistance.
More to come.
[ad_2]
Source link
