2010.11.0508:50:00UTC+00US Economy Adds 151,000 Jobs, Unemployment Rate Holds At 9.6%

The US economy generated more than 150,000 jobs in October, with significant positive revisions to the jobs data from the previous two months, the Labor Department revealed Friday.

Non-farm payrolls rose by 151,000 in October, higher than the 60,000 gain expected by Wall Street economists.

Private-sector payroll employment rose by 159,000 from September, as jobs were added in the health care and retail trade sectors.

The increase in private sector payrolls was the largest since April. Private employment was expected to rise by only 75,000.

Government employment was little changed in October.

The total October job growth doubled the consensus estimate of analysts, and signaled that the jobs market may be turning the corner.

Perhaps equally important, the payrolls count in August and September was revised higher by a combined 110,000.

The unemployment rate stood still at 9.6%, as more Americans waded back into the jobs market. Unemployment has hovered around 9.6% since May.

In a positive sign, the number of persons employed part time for economic reasons fell by 318,000 over the month to 9.2 million.

Average hourly earnings increased 5 cents, or 0.2% to $22.73, in line with estimates. The average workweek for employees increased by 0.1 hour in October to 34.3 hours.

Since December 2009, nonfarm payroll employment has risen by 874,000, the agency noted.

Weakness in the labor market has been a major concern for officials at the Federal Reserve. Earlier in the week, the central bank revealed plan to bolster the economy with another $600 billion in asset purchases, citing unsatisfactory levels of unemployment.

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