Here’s the lowdown:
MARKET WATCH – The U.S. economy gained a better-than-expected 171,000 jobs in October and more people were hired in the prior two months than previously believed, but the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9% from 7.8%, the government said Friday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected a 120,000 increase in jobs, with an unemployment rate of 7.9%.
Employment gains for September and August were revised up by a combined 84,000. The number of new jobs created in September was revised to 148,000 from a prior estimate of 114,000, while August’s figure was revised to 192,000 from 142,000.
Our favorite economist Jim Pethokoukis has been putting this in perspective this morning on twitter:
Employment growth has averaged 157k per month so far in 2012, about the same as the average monthly gain of 153k in 2011
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) November 2, 2012
10.6%: Unemployment rate if labor force participation rate was the same as when Obama took office
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) November 2, 2012
If labor force participation rate had just stayed steady all year, U-3 unemployment rate would be 8.2%
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) November 2, 2012
Broader U-6 unemployment ratedown just a tick to 14.6%
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) November 2, 2012
If we had a string of months like October, it would take 7 more years to get back to the Bush unemployment low of 4.4%
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) November 2, 2012
41 months into the recovery, and we have recovered just 55% of the lost private sector jobs from the Great Recession
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) November 2, 2012
Obama WH predicted unemployment rate would be 5.2% in October 2012, not 7.9%. Missed it by thismuch
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) November 2, 2012