Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 161,000 in October, according to a report today from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"This was a solid jobs report, with steady employment growth and stronger wage growth," said National Association of Federal Credit Unions Chief Economist Curt Long.
"While October’s job gains fell slightly below expectations, large upward revisions to prior months more than made up for it. Wage growth ticked up to 2.8% versus a year ago, which is the highest rate since 2009. From the Fed’s perspective, this report supports a rate hike in December," Long added.
The ADP National Employment Report estimated jobs would rise by 147,000.
Last month, total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 156,000, which was in line with expectations. The latest report revised September’s jobs higher, increasing from 156,000 to 191,000.
The December Federal Open Market Committee meeting is the only one left this year, with the committee deciding earlier this week to not raise rates in November.
On average in 2016, employment growth has averaged 181,000 per month, compared with an average monthly increase of 229,000 in 2015.
In the financial sector specifically, which helped drive job growth, jobs continued on an upward trend, increasing by 14,000.
The unemployment rate barely moved, coming in at 4.9%. Meanwhile, both the labor force participation rate, at 62.8%, and the employment-population ratio, at 59.7%, also barely changed. The report stated that these measures have shown little movement in recent months, although both are up over the year.
