US hiring beats all forecasts in October as unemployment dips to 4.1%

US employers added far more jobs than expected in October, a sign the labour market is holding up despite high interest rates and the economic drag from the Iran war. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday. That was well above the roughly 60,000 economists had forecast and higher than every estimate in Bloomberg’s survey. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2%. Earlier months were also stronger than first reported. September’s gain was revised up to 60,000 from 29,000, and August’s to 186,000, adding a combined 84,000 jobs. Professional and business services led the gains with 70,000 new jobs, followed by health care at 42,000, transportation and warehousing at 25,000 and manufacturing at 19,000. Leisure and hospitality lost 13,000 jobs. Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% on the month to $38.00, up 3.1% from a year earlier. Labour force participation edged up to 61.9%. The strong figures add to pressure on the Federal Reserve. It held rates at 3.75%–4.00% last month, while two officials voted for a hike, and markets were already betting on an increase at its December 9 meeting.