The U.S. Economy added 171,000 jobs in October, higher that analysts’ predictions and above the revised 148,000 revised September job number, the Labor Department announced Friday.
The unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent from the 7.8 percent registered the month before because more American entered the job market. Some 578,000 more Americans were counted as part of the labor force and 410 more people reported having a job.
Commenting on the jobs report, White House economic adviser Alan Krueger said, “While more work remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. Economy is continuing to heal from the wounds inflicted by the worst downturn since the Great Depression.
Krueger added: “It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class.”
The U.S. economy has witnessed 32 straight months of private sector job growth and a total of 5.4 million jobs have been added during that period. Still, more than 12.5 million Americans remain out of work.
