The U.S. labor market continued to rebound last month, as employers added 638,000 jobs and sent unemployment down sharply amid signs the economy is healing from the pandemic-induced downturn.
Jobs grew for the sixth straight month, the workforce expanded and the unemployment rate fell a percentage point to 6.9%, the Labor Department said Friday.
A drop in government employment tied to the release of temporary Census workers suppressed the overall job gains. Private-sector employers added 906,000 jobs last month, a pickup from September, offsetting a drop of 268,000 jobs in the public sector. Among the industries that hired the most workers last month was leisure and hospitality, a broad category that includes restaurants, museums, and performing arts establishments.
Job growth was down from September’s figure of 672,000 new jobs and far below the totals for June, July and August. But it remained robust by historical standards. Employers have added 12.1 million jobs since April, more than half the 22.2 million lost in the spring.
The report suggests the labor market recovery “still has plenty of momentum,” Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients.
