The US economy added more than twice the number of jobs expected in October, the third straight monthly gain, and the jobless rate fell, the US government said this afternoon in a report pointing to a labour market recovery.
The Labor Department also made substantial upward revisions to the figures for August and September, in a sign that strong economic growth in the third quarter translated into more jobs.
The number of workers on US payrolls outside the farm sector in October soared 126,000, the largest rise since January, after climbing 125,000 in the previous month. The number far outstripped analyst expectations for a 58,000 gain.
The unemployment rate fell to 6%, the lowest since April, from 6.1% in September. That also beat economist forecasts for the jobless rate to remain unchanged.
The economy grew at a 7.2% pace in the third quarter of the year. But partly due to huge productivity gains, the job market has been lagging other areas.
A large portion of the jobs increase last month came from the service sector, which added 143,000 jobs, the largest climb since January. The retail trade sector added 30,000 jobs, the education and health services sector created 56,000 jobs and professional and business services rose by 43,000.
Manufacturing continued to lose jobs in October, however, but at a slower pace than in previous months. The hard-hit sector, which has seen declines for 39 consecutive months, shed 24,000 positions in the month.
