Here Are 4 Awe-Inspiring Stats About The US Labor Market
Payroll gains totaled 214,000 and the unemployment rate fell to 5.8%.
Wage growth remained elusive, which is unlikely to make the Federal Reserve feel like it needs to raise rates anytime soon.
But overall, this report confirmed the labor market improving (which is something the Fed acknowledged in its latest monetary policy statement).
Here are the four awe-inspiring stats to keep in mind after Friday's report:
- This is the longest streak of job gains since the 1930s
- This is the longest streak of monthly job gains over 200,000 since the early 1990s
- The employment-to-population ratio rose to 59.2%, its highest since 2009
- The unemployment rate is at a six-year low
And there's more.
October was the 49th consecutive month of positive payroll gains, a streak that dates back to October 2010. This is the longest such streak since the 1930s, according to Reuters' Jamie McGeever.
McGeever also highlighted the other streaks we just broke:
And aside from this streak of positive report, we are also in the middle of the longest streak of payrolls gains of more than 200,000 since a 19-month streak seen from 1993-1995.
Here's the chart of those gains, via Pantheon Macroeconomics.
And alongside these streaks, we also saw the employment-to-population ratio tick up to 59.2%, its highest level since 2009.
FRED
And perhaps the biggest headline out of all these is the drop in the unemployment rate.
The unemployment rate, which in September fell below 6% for the first time since 2008, fell again to 5.8% to its lowest since June 2008.
And according to economists at BNP Paribas, the unrounded unemployment rate was within a few tenths of falling even further, with that rate coming in at 5.756% before rounding.
Here's the chart showing the unemployment rate, which has fallen steadily since topping out after the financial crisis.
FRED