On Wall Street, traders appeared to signal their growing belief in that scenario. The lower job growth in October, along with a slowdown in pay gains last month, could help convince the Fed that inflation pressures will continue to cool and that further rate hikes may not be needed.
The strikes ended this week with tentative settlements in which against Detroit’s automakers granted significantly better pay and benefits to the union’s workers.įriday’s jobs report from the government comes as the Federal Reserve is assessing incoming economic data to determine whether to leave its key interest rate unchanged, as it did this week, or to raise it again in its drive to curb inflation. And job growth would have been higher in October if not for the now-settled United Auto Workers’ strikes. Last month’s job growth, though down sharply from a robust 297,000 gain in September, was solid enough to suggest that many companies still want to hire and that the economy remains sturdy. WASHINGTON (AP) - The nation’s employers slowed their hiring in October, adding a modest but still decent 150,000 jobs, a sign that the labor market may be cooling but remains resilient despite high interest rates that have made borrowing much costlier for companies and consumers. By PAUL WISEMAN and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO (AP Economics Writers)
