214,000 jobs added in October, while unemployment rate fell to 5.8 percent

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that U.S. employers added 214,000 jobs in October, less than the 248,000 added in September. The unemployment rate fell to 5.8 percent, a tick down from 5.9 percent in September.

The jobs number was slightly below expectations. Bloomberg had estimated that the U.S. would add 235,000 new jobs and Reuters had predicted the addition of 231,000.

The news comes after the number of Americans filing for unemployment fell to 278,000 last week, marking the lowest average for jobless claims in 14 years. The number beat predictions and suggested that the U.S. job market is improving.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

"Anything over 200,000 is going to be a good number, will keep the unemployment rate solidly in a downward trend, and keeps everything on track for a tightening sometime next year," Michael Gapen, senior U.S. economist at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York, told Bloomberg.