In the jobs report out this morning, October brought us a bit of a reversal from the September news. Back then, you'll remember, the overall number of jobs added was fairly weak, but the unemployment rate moved downward anyway. In October, we have a much stronger number of new jobs, with the economy adding 171,000. But the rate ticked back upward, from 7.8 percent to 7.9 percent.
This latest figure is right on target for what we've been seeing lately. Since July, the economy has added an average of 173,000 jobs per month. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also revised the figures for August and September, and announced that we added 84,000 more jobs than previously thought.
So why did the unemployment rate move upward? Primarily, it was because the work force expanded, with an additional 578,000 Americans starting to look for work. It appears as if the strengthening economy is encouraging more people to get back into the labor force.
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