October Jobs Report Show Drastic Improvement in Labor Market
Any doubt brought about by the less-than-optimistic reports from August and September have been all but banished following the October jobs reports. It reported a 271,000 gain in payrolls, marking October as the biggest gain in the entire year. Additionally, it exceeded the meager estimates of 185,000.
The gain was mostly due to a jump in retail payrolls, a strong hiring in construction, and a bump in temporary staffing.
The unemployment rate fell to its lowest point since April of 2008. The underemployment rate fell to 9.8%, which is the lowest it has been since May 2008. Additionally, hourly earnings rose by 0.4%.
All of this indicates a 70% likelihood that the Fed with increase the interest rate for the first time since 2006, as it has been near 0 since December 2008.
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