U.S. employers added 250,000 workers in October, the last month before midterm elections in which incumbent Republicans have pinned their campaigns in part to the success of President Trump’s economic policies.
Unemployment held steady at the 3.7 percent reached the month before, the Labor Department said in a statement Friday, the lowest since December 1969. The payroll expansion was 32 percent higher than the average estimate of 190,000 from economists surveyed by FactSet, and compared with revised growth of 118,000 a month before.
“We saw a nice rebound in October,” Joseph Song, an economist with Bank of America, told the Washington Examiner. Discounting the distortions due to Hurricane Florence, whose landfall on the East Coast skewed September’s data, “you still get a relatively strong number,” he added.
Indeed, the blowout growth topped even the 228,000 estimate from Morgan Stanley economist Ellen Zentner, who had predicted a rebound as stores and restaurants that temporarily shut their doors during Hurricane Florence resumed operation.
“Industries typically impacted by weather accounted for a good share of the downside surprise” in September, with retail and leisure and hospitality payrolls down significantly, Zentner said in a report. In October, retailers added 2,400 workers while restaurants and hotels expanded payrolls by 33,000.
Payroll-processing firm ADP said earlier this week that private employers hired 227,000 workers in October, noting significant growth in leisure and hospitality, which added 40,000 employees. Wall Street typically follows ADP’s figures closely, viewing them as a potential indicator of the Labor Department’s broader assessment.
Employment gains in the Trump era coupled with broader economic growth show that Republicans have delivered on their 2016 campaign promises, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said in a column in the Washington Examiner on Friday. He urged voters in Tuesday’s mid-term elections to give them “the chance to build on this success, keep the economy strong, and expand opportunity for even more Americans.”
The U.S. now has more job openings than people available to fill them, the Wisconsin Republican said.
“Wages and benefits are rising at their fastest rate in a decade,” argued Ryan, who is stepping down as speaker and not seeking re-election. “We’ve rolled back regulations that were stifling growth and have allowed American small businesses and job creators to do what they do best. Families are feeling the direct effects of this growing economy. ”
