U.S. adds fewer jobs in weaker labor market in October

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) — U.S. employers added only 12,000 jobs in October, much fewer than in previous months, indicating labor market weakness, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday.
The latest data follows an average monthly gain of 194,000 over the prior 12 months.
In October, employment continued to trend up in health care and government, while temporary help services lost jobs and employment declined in manufacturing due to strike activity.
Health care added 52,000 jobs in October. Within professional and business services, employment in temporary help services declined by 49,000 in October.
Manufacturing employment decreased by 46,000 in October, reflecting a decline of 44,000 in transportation equipment manufacturing which was largely due to strike activity.
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for August was revised down by 81,000 to a gain of 78,000, and the change for September was revised down by 31,000 to 223,000.
With these revisions, employment in August and September combined is 112,000 lower than previously reported.
The unemployment rate, at 4.1 percent, changed little in October. The measure was higher than a year earlier when the jobless rate was 3.8 percent.
In October, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 13 cents or 0.4 percent to 35.46 U.S. dollars. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 4.0 percent.
After its Sept. 17-18 meeting, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) slashed the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 4.75-5 percent, amid cooling inflation and a weakening labor market. This marked the first rate cut in over four years and signaled the start of an easing cycle.
The Fed will hold its next policy meeting from Wednesday to Thursday. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group’s FedWatch Tool, which acts as a barometer for the market’s expectation of the Fed funds target rate, showed that as of Friday morning, the probability of the Fed cutting rates by 25 basis points at the November meeting is over 99 percent. ■