U.S. payrolls rose by 165,000 in October, unemployment rate at 4.1%

U.S. payrolls grew by 165,000 in October, exceeding a 65,000-job forecast, TokenPost reported. The outlet said the unemployment rate was 4.1%. Black Chronicle also reported 165,000 jobs added and a 4.1% unemployment rate, citing a Bureau of Labor Statistics release published Friday.

The accounts differ on the prior month’s unemployment reading. One TokenPost story said the rate was 4.2% a month earlier, while another recorded September’s rate as 4.1%. The October figure can therefore be reported without describing it as a decline from September.

TokenPost said October’s job gains were concentrated in professional and business services, health care, and transportation and warehousing. The outlet also reported upward revisions to earlier payroll estimates: September’s increase was revised to 60,000 from 29,000, and August’s to 186,000 from 133,000. TokenPost said the combined revisions added 84,000 jobs to the prior two months’ previously reported totals.

The 165,000 gain was 100,000 above the forecast cited by TokenPost. The outlet said the employment figures were being watched by traders assessing interest rates and cryptocurrency markets, and that labor-market data can influence expectations for Federal Reserve policy. It also cautioned that the unemployment figure alone does not establish what the central bank will do next.