The US unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in nearly 17 years in October
AFP, Nov. 3, 2017 - The US unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in nearly 17 years in October while job creation resumed climbing after the two late-summer hurricanes, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Analysts said the rebound was smaller than expected but upward revisions to job creation in the prior months meant the storms had caused less damage than originally feared, making for an upbeat report.
The White House hailed the outcome, saying the Trump administration's economic agenda was bearing fruit. However, the report also showed a shrinking labor force and confirmed job creation in 2017 has lagged behind last year.
The US jobless rate fell to 4.1 percent, down a tenth of a point from September, the lowest the US economy has seen since December 2000.
Employers added 261,000 net new positions as businesses reopened in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, although economists had forecast a rebound of 300,000 new jobs.
Analysts said the rebound was smaller than expected but upward revisions to job creation in the prior months meant the storms had caused less damage than originally feared, making for an upbeat report.
The White House hailed the outcome, saying the Trump administration's economic agenda was bearing fruit. However, the report also showed a shrinking labor force and confirmed job creation in 2017 has lagged behind last year.
The US jobless rate fell to 4.1 percent, down a tenth of a point from September, the lowest the US economy has seen since December 2000.
Employers added 261,000 net new positions as businesses reopened in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, although economists had forecast a rebound of 300,000 new jobs.
But the data for September turned out not be as bad as initially reported, with 18,000 new jobs created, rather than a loss of 33,000 positions. Together with the upward revision for August, an additional 90,000 jobs were added for those two months.
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