531,000 jobs added to economy in October

Number of new jobs more than expected for first time since July

A total of 531,000 jobs were added to the American economy during the month of October, exceeding forecaster expectations, according to the latest jobs reports. 

The unemployment rate also dropped down to 4.6% in the last month, making it the lowest it has been since May 2020. 

Economists had predicted 450,000 new jobs would be added to the economy during October, making it the first time since July that the actual number exceeded estimates.  

The industries that grew the most last month were leisure, hospitality, manufacturing, transportation, and warehousing. 

The hospitality sector is still struggling to recover from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, and remains 1.4 million jobs below what it was at prior to the global health crisis. 

Nick Bunker, economic research director at Indeed, told CNN Business this is the growth you can expect to see the more COVID-19 is gotten under control. 

“This is the kind of recovery we can get when we are not sidelined by a surge in Covid cases,” Bunker said.

The positive turn comes after two months of slow growth in the jobs sector, as the country continues to navigate the effects of COVID-19, namely the rise of the Delta variant. 

“The labor market is not yet fully recovered from the coronavirus-induced recession. But today’s report is a sign that recovery could be closer than many thought,” Bunker told CNN Business. 

More than 18 million jobs have been added back into the American economy since it began its recovery in May 2020.  

Millions of people are still unable to go back to work due to issues related to or caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, however, with the economy still at 4.2 million jobs lower than in April 2020. 

The number of people who claimed the pandemic kept them from returning to work dropped from 1.6 million to 1.3 million in September.