October Jobs Report Beats Expectations But There's Still One Problem

After a two-month slump, Friday’s jobs report was a positive step for the U.S. economy, with 531,000 jobs added in October. The unemployment rate dropped from 4.8 percent to 4.6 percent.

While it beat expectations, according to Bloomberg, "it’s still not the blockbuster economists had expected earlier in the summer, especially in light of recent declines in Covid caseloads and the expiration of pandemic unemployment benefits."

Gains were seen in leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, transportation, professional and business services, and warehousing, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

Latest jobs report from the BLS:
+531,000 jobs in October

Upward revisions to past two months:
+118,000 more jobs for September
+117,000 more jobs for August

Unemployment rate now 4.6%
That's down from 6.3% in January

Biden to speak at 10:15 ET or so.
— The Recount (@therecount) November 5, 2021

As Jobs Creators Network notes, however, the labor force participation remained unchanged at 61.6 percent, hovering close to that rate since June 2020.

Fox Business's Charles Payne also pointed out the "problem" with the stagnant labor force participation rate.

Good Jobs Report
the problem is only 100,000 people came back to labor force but that keeps participation rate at 61.6 - Jay Powell made it clear this has to get better before any rate hikes.

Consequently, stocks higher and year yield flattish. pic.twitter.com/ZBuauUtUZQ
— Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) November 5, 2021

The Labor Force Participation Rate remained unchanged at 61.6%. The number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job is 6 million. For context this is 968,000 higher than pre-Covid levels. #economy pic.twitter.com/G3lKFzq3NA
— Brett Crowther (@BCrowther_TDA) November 5, 2021

“Job growth remains disappointing, and the reason is clear: The Democrats’ ‘War on Small Business’ is fueling inflation, causing major supply chain disruptions, and exacerbating a record national labor shortage,” said JCN president and CEO Alfredo Ortiz. “The elections in Virginia and New Jersey showed that Americans are fed up with the Biden agenda. The Democrats, however, remain in a state of denial. Two days after the election, they moved ahead with a vaccine mandate on small businesses that will cause even further economic damage.”

Making matters worse, Democrats in Washington are moving forward on Biden’s Build Back Better agenda.

“Instead of using Tuesday’s elections as a reason to pull back, they are moving full steam ahead with a pair of spending bills that will cost around $3 trillion,” he continued. “Those bills will be paid for, in part, by new taxes on small businesses that will send our economy into the worst stagflation in decades: a redux of the Jimmy Carter Era. The Democrats need to hit the ‘reset’ button: stop the mandates, stop the spending, and let America’s small businesses lead our recovery.”

Good jobs report. Too bad the House is voting on a version of the Biden Budget Buster today that would destroy 6.8 million jobs.https://t.co/BGZqnnZZB4 pic.twitter.com/LJAF3ZwyJK
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) November 5, 2021