MNI: 5 Things We Learned From The October Employment Report>

By Sara Haire, Kevin Kastner and Holly Stokes

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - The following are the key points from the 

October employment report from the BLS released Friday: 

     - Nonfarm payrolls for October saw a 261,000 rise following a 

revised 18,000 gain in September, up from -33k estimate previously 

reported. August was revised to 208,000. 

     -The average of September and October is at 139,500, the lowest 

since 2010.  

     - The unemployment rate saw a -0.1% drop to 4.1%, the lowest since 

December of 2000. The drop in unemployment can be attributed to both 

household employed and unemployed falling, as seen by the drop in the 

participation rate to 62.7% as both household employed and unemployed 

both fell. 

     - Average hourly earnings was flat after a 0.5% hurricane-driven 

gain in September, much lower than the 0.2% expected. The year-over-year 

rate dropped to 2.4%.      

     - The hurricane affected the food services and drinking 

services, as shown by the 89,000 rebound following the 98,000 decline in 

September.  

     ** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 ** 

[TOPICS: MAUDS$,M$U$$$,MAUDR$]