US employers pulled back on hiring in October, adding 150,000 jobs

The nation’s employers slowed their hiring in October, adding a modest but still decent 150,000 jobs, a sign that the labor market may be cooling but remains resilient despite high interest rates that have made borrowing much costlier for companies and...

WASHINGTON -- The nation’s employers slowed their hiring in October, adding a modest but still decent 150,000 jobs, a sign that the labor market may be cooling but remains resilient despite high interest rates that have made borrowing much costlier for companies and consumers.

Last month’s job growth, though down sharply from a robust 297,000 gain in September, was solid enough to suggest that many companies still want to hire and that the economy remains sturdy.

And job growth would have been higher in October if not for the now-settled United Auto Workers’ strikes against Detroit’s automakers. The strikes ended this week with tentative settlements in which the companies granted significantly better pay and benefits to the union’s workers.

The unemployment rate rose from 3.8% to 3.9% in October. In another sign of a possible softening in the labor market, the Labor Department revised down its estimate of job growth in August and September by a combined 101,000.

The UAW strikes resulted in an overall loss of 35,000 factory jobs in October. Among the sectors that posted solid job gains last month were healthcare, which added 58,000, government agencies 51,000 and construction companies 23,000.