October Job Report

Share:

WASHINGTON, D.C.- The October report released this morning revealed weak job creation, with only 12,000 nonfarm payroll jobs added, falling short of analysts' expectations of 120,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (LINK). This marks the 47th consecutive month of job growth, the longest sustained increase since record-keeping began in 1915. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1%. Despite these lower-than-expected numbers, the continuation of job growth amid extraordinary challenges-including two hurricanes impacting Florida and the Southeastern U.S. and an ongoing strike at Boeing-signals resilience in the labor market.Marisa Calderon, President and CEO of Prosperity Now, issued the following statement in response to the latest job numbers:

"While we celebrate 47 consecutive months of job growth and recognize this as a historic and encouraging milestone, it is crucial that we monitor the situation closely, as these numbers represent the weakest job creation we've seen all year. Additionally, as we've emphasized time and again, job creation remains uneven across our country. BLS datareleased earlier this week showed 260 of the 389 metro areas still have higher unemployment rates than a year ago. This uneven recovery disproportionately impacts underserved communities, particularly Black and Latino workers, low-income families, and individuals in rural areas. For far too many Americans, economic stability remains out of reach.

As we celebrate the start of National Entrepreneurship Month, we must continue championing policies that empower small businesses to thrive. They are the backbone of the American economy. With stark disparities in job creation between the wealthiest metro areas and those that are lagging behind, we must redouble our efforts to support small business owners in investing in themselves, their employees, and their communities. Prosperity Now calls for further measures to ease interest rates, expand access to capital, promote fair and equitable lending practices, and provide the tools that small businesses need to grow with confidence."

Background:

• In October, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1%. Among major worker groups, unemployment remained the same for Black workers at 5.7% and dipped slightly for Asian workers at 3.9% (4.1% in September). Unemployment for Hispanic workers also remained the same from last month at 5.1% while White unemployment increased slightly to 3.8%.

###

About Prosperity Now -- Since 1979, Prosperity Nowhas been a persistent voice championing economic opportunity, innovating outside of and beyond existing systems to build power for all communities. We advance racial and ethnic economic justice by investing in bold new ideas, and we work deeply at both the grassroots and national level to impact the entire ecosystem. By setting goals for our economy and following through with targeted approaches based on need, we are equipped to drive forward and cement big structural solutions. Learn more at www.prosperitynow.org.