FINANCIAL TIMES: The US economy shrugged off the government shutdown by adding a massive 204,000 jobs in October, transforming the picture of the world’s largest labour market and significantly increasing the chances of the US Federal Reserve slowing its asset purchases in December.
Jobs growth came in at more than twice analyst expectations of 100,000, while big upward revisions to the August and September readings added a further 60,000 to the total.
“The clear takeaway from the payroll numbers is that, if anything, the economy has picked up momentum recently . . . 180,000 or 190,000 jobs a month is more than enough to keep the unemployment rate trending down,” said Jim O’Sullivan, chief economist at High Frequency Economics in New York… (more)
