US adds 261,000 jobs in October

Washington, Nov 5

US hiring rose in October, despite the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates several times in recent months.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 261,000 while the jobless rate ticked upward to 3.7 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the US Bureau of Labor Statistics' report released on Friday.

The payroll numbers came in better than expected by Dow Jones, which had estimated 205,000 more jobs, but worse than the jobless rate estimate of 3.5 per cent.

Average earnings per hour rose 4.7 per cent from the same time last year and 0.4 per cent for the previous month.

That indicated growth in wages will still likely push prices up, as worker pay continues to fall short of the rate of inflation.