US created 261,000 jobs in Oct, vs 310,000 jobs expected

• November 3, 2017
• realestatelife
• Announcements, Business & Markets, Real Estate, Real Estate Finance

The U.S. economy added 261,000 jobs in October and the unemployment rate was 4.1 percent as labor conditions returned to normal following the storm-weakened September.

However, the number was considerably below Wall Street expectations of 310,000. The tick lower in the unemployment rate came against expectations it would hold steady at 4.2 percent.

A broader measure of joblessness that includes discouraged workers and those at work part-time for economic reasons fell sharply, from 8.3 percent to 7.9 percent after being at 9.5 percent just a year ago.

In addition to the October growth, an initially reported decline of 33,000 for September was revised up to 18,000. August’s count also was revised up from 169,000 to 208,000.
The report comes as the Federal Reserve is expected to hike its benchmark rate another quarter point in December.

However, the central bank has been wary over the lack of inflation, particularly in the average hourly earnings component of the nonfarm payrolls count.
Wage growth again disappointed, with earnings actually off by 1 cent an hour and showing just a 2.4 percent annualized gain.