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16 JOB MARKET CONTINUES TO HEAT UP Job growth fell short of forecasts in October, but other employment indicators showed modest improvements for the labor market. U.S. employers added 214,000 jobs in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported. Economists had expected payrolls would increase by 240,000, a slight decline from September's preliminary estimate of 248,000 new jobs added. Meanwhile, the government revised its estimates for payroll growth in August and September, bringing those totals up to 203,000 and 256,000, respectively. With the latest revision to August, job growth has topped 200,000 every month this year except January. As of the end of October, BLS estimates the national unemployment rate was 5.8 percent, down from 5.9 percent to a new six-year low. Economists had anticipated no change. Among the nearly 9 million Americans counted as unemployed in the government's survey, an estimated 2.9 million were jobless for more than 27 weeks, down slightly from September. Over the past year, BLS says the number of long-term unemployed has dropped off by 1.1 million. e number of Americans classified as "marginally attached" to the labor force— defined as those who are not in the labor force but who have sought work in the last year—also fell slightly, dipping to 2.2 million after a jump in September. At the same time, the number of people who gave up looking for work climbed, hitting an estimated 770,000. Overall, the labor force participation rate nudged up, though it still remains historically low at 62.8 percent. e drop in the unemployment rate came in the same month that policymakers at the Federal Reserve made the decision to end the central bank's bond purchasing program that began more than two years ago. While broader labor indicators (including the U-6 unemployment rate, which figures in marginally attached workers and those employed part-time for economic reasons) still show some slack, the direction of the market may spur the Fed to move its timeline for raising interest rates forward. "is is a strong report that suggests the first rate hike is coming sooner than many expect," said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist for Capital Economics. "We expect the Fed to start tightening in March next year." e numbers were in line with estimates released by the ADP Research Institute just a day earlier. According to ADP, the number of jobs in the private sector increased by 230,000 from September to October. Medium businesses, those with between 50 and 499 employees, had the largest increase month-over-month with 122,000 jobs added in October, more than double the total of August to September's increase of 47,000 for companies that size, ADP reported. Small business, those with between one and 49 employees, saw an increase of 102,000 jobs from September to October after adding 93,000 jobs from August to September. In October, 53,000 of the jobs added were in companies with between one and 19 employees and 49,000 were added in companies with between 20 and 49 employees, according to ADP. "Employment continues to trend upward as we begin the last quarter of 2014, driven mostly by small to mid-sized companies," said Carlos Rodriguez, president and CEO of ADP Research Institute. "October's job growth is the highest since June and the second highest gain of 2014." Large businesses with more than 500 employees gained only 5,000 new jobs month- over-month in October after adding 85,000 in September, according to ADP. Businesses with between 500 and 999 employees added 14,000 jobs from September to October, an increase from 8,000 added from August to September, but this gain was offset by the loss of 8,000 jobs in businesses with more than 1,000 employees, ADP reported. e goods-producing sector accounted for 48,000 of the jobs added in October, a slight decline from the 50,000 jobs that sector added in September, according to ADP. e construction industry added the most jobs in this category in October with 28,000, more than twice the number of jobs added in that industry for September (13,000). Manufacturing, however, added only 15,000 jobs after increasing by a three-year high total of 33,000 in September. Meanwhile, 181,000 service-producing jobs were added in October, an increase over the 176,000 jobs that sector added in September. e professional and business-service industries contributed the most job additions in that category with 53,000 in October, while the trade/transportation/utilities industries expanded by 47,000 jobs in October, up from 37,000 in September. e financial activities industry gained 4,000 jobs in October, which was less than half of September's total. "e job market is steadily picking up pace," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics. "Job growth is strong and broad- based across industries and company sizes. At this pace of job growth, unemployment and underemployment is quickly declining. e job market will soon be tight enough to support a meaningful acceleration in wage growth."

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