U.S. Economy Added 638,000 Jobs Last Month

The economy created 638,000 net new jobs last month. The estimate was for a gain of 530,000.

The unemployment rate fell to 6.9%. The estimate was for 7.7%. The U-6 number fell to 12.1%.

The jobless rate decline was positive as it came with a labor force participation rate that rose 0.3 percentage points to 61.7%. An alternative measure that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons also declined, to 12.1% from 12.8% a month ago.

The survey of households showed an even stronger level of job growth, with the total employment level rising by 2.24 million and the employment to population ratio increasing by 0.8 percentage points to 57.4%. The household survey also showed a decline of 1.52 million in the total unemployed level and a drop of 541,000 in those considered not in the labor force.

The bottom line. The jobs numbers were decent but there’s a long way to go. We’re probably about 10 million jobs away from full employment.

Here’s the chart of nonfarm payrolls:

Here’s the unemployment rate:

Posted by on November 6th, 2020 at 8:35 am


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