Payroll’s drop last month…More people work Two jobs…Good Economy?

Who says?

• Nonfarm payrolls increased by 150,000 for the month, against the consensus forecast for a rise of 170,000. That was a sharp decline from the gain of 297,000 in September.
• The unemployment rate rose to 3.9%, the highest level since January 2022, amid a drop in household employment.
• From a sector standpoint, health care led with 58,000 new jobs. Other leading gainers included government (51,000), construction (23,000) and social assistance (19,000).
• Manufacturing posted a decline, mostly due to the auto strikes.

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The unemployment rate rose to 3.9%, the highest level since January 2022, against expectations that it would hold steady at 3.8%. Employment as measured in the household survey, which is used to compute the unemployment rate, showed a decline of 348,000 workers, while the rolls of the unemployed rose by 146,000.

A more encompassing jobless rate that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time positions for economic reasons rose to 7.2%, an increase of 0.2 percentage point. The labor force participation rate declined slightly to 62.7%, while the labor force contracted by 201,000….

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Following a third quarter in which gross domestic product expanded at a 4.9% annualized pace, even better than expected, growth is projected to slow considerably. A Treasury report earlier this week put expected fourth-quarter GDP growth at just 0.7%, and 1% for the full year 2024.

Fed policymakers have deliberately tried to slow the economy in order to tackle inflation. On Wednesday, the Fed’s rate-setting committee chose to hold the line for the second consecutive meeting after a series of 11 hikes since March 2022.

Markets expect the Fed is likely done raising, though central bank officials insist they are dependent on incoming data and still could hike more if inflation doesn’t show consistent signs of falling.

Inflation data has been mixed lately. The Fed’s preferred gauge showed the annual rate fell to 3.7% in September, an indication of steady but slow progress back to its goal…

More…

Note….

Ole Jerome and his crew at the Fed are getting what they wanted…..

Biden & Co ain’t happy…..