The U.S. economy added 165,000 jobs in October, far above what economists expected, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 65,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate dropped from 4.2% in September. The Labor Department also revised its earlier numbers up, adding a combined 84,000 jobs to the August and September totals, the Associated Press reported. September alone was raised from 29,000 to 60,000.
Thanks to America’s unrivaled entrepreneurial spirit and dynamism, the re-industrialization and re-privatization of the American economy are gathering extraordinary force. Today’s jobs report shows our great American companies have created nearly 400,000 private-sector jobs in the past three months. Manufacturing employment has now risen by over 100,000 in 2026 alone. We are fundamentally rebalancing the American economy, away from government-led growth and toward private investment, productive employment, and the revival of our industrial base.
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) November 6, 2026
I am sharing this one because it landed three days after an election in which voters were told the Trump economy was failing.
Where the jobs came from
The BLS said employment rose in professional and business services, health care, and transportation and warehousing. President Trump said the report included 19,000 new manufacturing jobs, “the largest one-month increase in manufacturing jobs in many years,” in remarks posted by the White House’s Rapid Response account.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on X that American companies “have created nearly 400,000 private-sector jobs in the past three months” and that manufacturing employment “has now risen by over 100,000 in 2026 alone.”
“We are fundamentally rebalancing the American economy, away from government-led growth and toward private investment, productive employment, and the revival of our industrial base,” Bessent wrote.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said the upward revisions were “ginormous” and described “a job market that’s hitting on all cylinders.” Trump called them “the most incredible jobs numbers.”
Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler wrote that manufacturing has added more than 100,000 jobs since December 2025 and that 98% of manufacturers are small businesses. Economist E.J. Antoni posted that manufacturing jobs reached their highest level since December 2024, after a three-year slide that began at the start of 2023.
The wider picture
Reuters reported that the economy grew at a 3.4% annual rate in the third quarter, driven by strong consumer spending and business investment in artificial intelligence. A Rapid Response post on Thursday highlighted weekly jobless claims of 189,000, which it called a 57-year low.
The Federal Reserve left its benchmark rate in the 3.75% to 4% range last week, and economists expect a rate hike in December, according to Reuters. The October consumer inflation report comes out Tuesday. Energy prices have risen since the war with Iran began, Reuters noted.
Reuters also reported that some economists credit a shrinking supply of workers, from the immigration crackdown and retirements, for part of the low unemployment rate. Democrats spent the campaign arguing that families were losing ground on prices.
The bottom line
I understand why people who feel squeezed at the gas pump did not want to hear about payroll numbers. But this report tells working families something real. Factories are hiring again, and more Americans are earning paychecks than economists predicted.
Manufacturing turned around this year after three years of losses, under an administration that made its tax cuts permanent and bet on American industry. The new Democratic majorities should be made to explain which of those policies they intend to repeal.
The White House should spend the next two months selling these results plainly, keep energy production rising to bring fuel prices down, and veto any bill that raises taxes on the workers and small businesses now doing the hiring.