The nation gained a much-better-than-expected 204,000 jobs last month, although the unemployment rate ticked upward to 7.3 percent, the federal government reported today.
Analysts polled by Yahoo Finance had expected a job gain of between 85,000 and 110,000 jobs, as the partial shutdown of the federal government from Oct. 1 through 17 was believed to have stolen some of the momentum of the job gains that had occurred throughout the year. The jobless rate, meanwhile, was in line with expectations.
Still, the government said the number of workers who said they were temporarily out of work increased last month by 448,000, a figure that included temporarily furloughed federal employees.
Job gains occurred in the leisure and hospitality, retail trade, professional and technical services, manufacturing, and health care sectors. Meanwhile, federal government employment continued to trend down. The U.S. Labor Department said there were “no discernible impacts” of the partial shutdown on the estimates of employment, hours worked, and earnings.
There was little to no change in other sectors, including construction, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, and financial activities.
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