Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 250,000 jobs in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, marking the country's 97th straight month of employment gains. The unemployment rate held at 3.7% for the second consecutive month, a low it had not previously reached since 1969.
Construction employment was up 30,000 jobs in October, with 14,000 of those jobs occurring among residential specialty trade contractors. The construction industry has added 330,000 jobs over the year.
Employment in leisure and hospitality, transportation and warehousing, manufacturing, healthcare and professional and business services also saw strong gains.
Here's how economists and others reacted to the jobs report on Twitter.
I’m not seeing anything bad in this jobs report. Strong hourly wage growth, even stronger weekly wage growth, higher labor force participation, lower broader underemployment, while job growth bounced back from last month and the unemployment rate remained low.
— Jason Furman (@jasonfurman) November 2, 2018
Pretty much everything you could want in a monthly jobs report. Payroll gains way better than expected, nice pop in labor force participation, wage growth continues to strengthen, finally beating inflation (real gains!). Score 1 for "room-to-run" crowd!
— Jared Bernstein (@econjared) November 2, 2018
Man, this is a really great jobs report. The job market is firing on all cylinders: Strong job growth (esp for this stage of expansion), wages rising faster, more people in labor force.
— Neil Irwin (@Neil_Irwin) November 2, 2018
These are also jobs numbers that'll reinforce the arguments of the folks at the Fed determined to follow through on their plan to gradually normalize interest rates. (And a hawk might say that it's evidence they need to do so relatively quickly.)
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) November 2, 2018
U.S. wage are accelerating at the fast pace of the economic cycle.
— Johnny Bo Jakobsen (@jbjakobsen) November 2, 2018
Average hourly earnings up 3.1% y/y in Oct. pic.twitter.com/WTiIS4YRDM
Unemployment rates among the least employed Americans is actually ticking up, while jobless rates among more educated workers are declining. via @jeannasmialek @TheTerminal pic.twitter.com/ocvRkPTk8B
— Lisa Abramowicz (@lisaabramowicz1) November 2, 2018
Job growth by industry:
— Kate Davidson (@KateDavidson) November 2, 2018
Health care +36k
Manufacturing +32k
Construction +30k
Leisure/hospitality +42k
Professional services +35k
Nice month for food manufacturing, up 6800. We like to imagine mfg workers making big machines and metal and stuff but, as a wise mfg analyst once told me, a big share of mfg workers make food. 2nd largest mfg industry after autos.
— Ryan Decker (@UpdatedPriors) November 2, 2018
#JobsReport: Women gained 62% of jobs added in October, gaining 156,000 of the 250,000 jobs added pic.twitter.com/0U2KznYy5Q
— IWPR (@IWPResearch) November 2, 2018
Nominal wage growth continues to show promise, increasing 3.1% over the year. This is the first time we’ve hit at least 3% wage growth since April 2009. This is definitely a strong signal that workers are finally beginning to see an improving economy reach their paychecks.
— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) November 2, 2018
7/n pic.twitter.com/Wn1ynZZh3l
[a skills gap joke] https://t.co/hNp7NyO55o
— Michael Madowitz (@mikemadowitz) November 2, 2018
Tight labor markets are good for humans https://t.co/vxnA6vX2Aq
— Michael Madowitz (@mikemadowitz) November 2, 2018
Retailers are so desperate for workers they're offering to pay employees full-time! @lydiadepillis https://t.co/XInvU8w3r8
— Nathaniel Meyersohn (@nmeyersohn) November 1, 2018
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)