U.S. economy added 165,000 jobs in October, way more than expected; unemployment rate slips to 4.1%

CNBC ^ | 11/6/2026 | Jeff Cox

[Tell It Right]

The U.S. economy added jobs at a much stronger than expected pace in October, while the unemployment rate moved lower as the labor market showed surprising strength.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by a seasonally adjusted 165,000 for the month, compared with the Dow Jones estimate for 59,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: economy; jobs

[Tell It Right]

In addition to the strong payroll gains for October, prior months were revised up substantially: The August figure moved up to 186,000, an upward revision of 53,000, while the September count moved to 60,000 following an upward revision of 31,000.

[Tell It Right]

For the Federal Reserve, the report also comes at a pivotal time. Central bankers are weighing whether to resume raising interest rates in December as inflation remains stubbornly above the central bank’s 2% target.

[DIRTYSECRET]

Doesn’t matter now, does it?

[Theoria]

Higher jobs numbers means another fed raise in Dec, traders already betting on that, part of reason why the market is lugubrious this morning.

[Dr. Franklin]

Do the election returns support the premise that the economy was booming? People tend to vote their pocketbooks, and the election turns suggest the administration has been cooking the books on unemployment.

[brownsfan]

“Doesn’t matter now, does it?”

That was my first thought. The DSA will “fix” this in a hurry. The public will be told it’s all Trumps fault and that will usher in president AOC. She even goes by 3 letters, like FDR, JFK, LBJ. The table has been set.

[escapefromboston]

It was probably more racial than economic this time around.

[Tell It Right]

Do the election returns support the premise that the economy was booming? People tend to vote their pocketbooks, and the election turns suggest the administration has been cooking the books on unemployment.

Perhaps. Or perhaps it's the perception of a bad economy that they voted against. Rush told us many times that people hear manipulative media doom and gloom in the news and think, "My life's not bad. It must be bad for all my neighbors."

Plus, as always, we were running against the Santa Claus fantasy. (Hat-tip to FReeper pookie18 and his Today's Toons for the one below.)

[R_Kangel]

..... Democrats are now saying they want to ban or at least minimize new Data Centers and curtail expansion ..... That's going to affect almost 25% of the total US economic growth ....

...... Good Times ....

.

[Tommy Revolts]

Yes it does. Maybe the Democrat Marxist Muslims can turn this around and stop
this nonsense of jobs growth. 🙄

[volare737]

This pretty much guarantees an interest rate increase—which is certainly needed to fight inflation—at the next Fed meeting,

[Red Badger]

It’s the economy, stupid!...................

[Tommy Revolts]

Mind-boggling to me.

[Deo volente]

Nightmare scenario:
AOC/Garcia in 2028.

Beyond a nightmare...the final collapse of free America.

[FLT-bird]

The economy is performing pretty well growing and starting to add jobs at a good clip. The problems are that the job growth has not been enough to make a really big dent - remember that last year ALL the jobs went to women - and wages have not increased enough to offset the rise in prices since 2020. People are poorer than they were and they feel that.

I think that will change over the next couple years. The massive investments made in the US in rebuilding the manufacturing base, building power plants, data centers, etc etc will translate into a lot more good paying jobs - specifically the kinds of jobs that will employ men - but its not here yet. Those factories are still being built. Also, the Iran war and the rise in oil prices delayed the economic boom and it did not arrive in time to help Republicans in the midterms.

[Danie_2023]

“”The U.S. economy added jobs at a much stronger than expected pace in October””

***

Never fear. America’s enemy within, the radical left Democrat Party, will fix that little problem right quick... as soon as they possibly can. Reality check: praying ain’t gonna cut it any more.

[Dr. Franklin]

Perhaps. Or perhaps it's the perception of a bad economy that they voted against. Rush told us many times that people hear manipulative media doom and gloom in the news and think, "My life's not bad. It must be bad for all my neighbors."

Many Republican incumbents got the boot on election night because the voters in the political middle who had voted for Trump and Republican candidates because of Trump's past performance on the economy despite his embarrassing narcissistic personality decided that they hadn't delivered this time. Everything else is denial, and refusing to address it will continuen to have bad results.

[Dr. Franklin]

Perhaps. Or perhaps it's the perception of a bad economy that they voted against. Rush told us many times that people hear manipulative media doom and gloom in the news and think, "My life's not bad. It must be bad for all my neighbors."

Many Republican incumbents got the boot on election night because the voters in the political middle who had voted for Trump and Republican candidates because of Trump's past performance on the economy despite his embarrassing narcissistic personality decided that they hadn't delivered this time. Everything else is denial, and refusing to address it will continuen to have bad results.