The U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in October while the unemployment rate fell to 4.6%, the Labor Department reported Friday. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 531,000 for the month, compared to the Dow Jones estimate of 450,000. The unemployment rate had been expected to edge down to 4.7%.
Nearly as important as the October totals were the revisions from the couple of months that preceded it: Job totals from August and September, which appeared disappointing after the preliminary reports were released, were both revised up significantly. The combined changes reflected an additional 235,000 previously unreported new jobs — on top of the 531,000 jobs created in October.