The U.S. economy has cooled but continues to expand with employers hiring, consumers spending and growth stabilizing. Employment grew by a seasonally adjusted 128,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department reported Friday, a solid performance considering a strike at GM plants and a decline in the federal workforce temporarily reduced payrolls by more than 50,000. The unemployment rate increased up from a 50-year low to 3.6% in October as hundreds of thousands of Americans joined the labor force. Wage growth remained steady, up 3% from a year earlier. Job growth remains strong in areas of the economy that serve U.S. consumers and are generally protected from global trends and trade disputes. Health care and social services added 34,200 jobs in October, business services added 22,000, and hospitality, including restaurants, added 61,000. The number of Americans working or searching for work has also increased and rose last month to the highest level since August 2013.
I find it interesting how only a few years ago when Amazon let go of many workers to then replace them with machines, it was a huge topic of discussion. The unemployment rate rose because so many workers had to find new jobs, and now the unemployment rate is at a 50-year low. I wonder how many of the seasonal jobs are accounted for when looking at the unemployment rate.
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