By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON — America’s employers kept hiring briskly in October, adding a substantial 261,000 positions, a sign that as Election Day nears, the economy remains a picture of solid job growth and painful inflation.
People are also reading… The October jobs figures were the last major economic report before Election Day, with voters keenly focused on the state of the economy and on their own financial lives. All the jobs that employers have added since the recession ended have boosted the ability of consumers to keep spending, even amid high inflation. A labor shortage in many areas of the economy also compelled businesses to pay more to attract and keep workers.
Signs are growing that the economy has begun to flag under the weight of much higher borrowing costs engineered by the Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes. Especially in industries like housing and technology, hiring has waned. Some tech companies, like the ride-hailing firm Lyft and the payment company Stripe. have announced plans to lay off workers. Amazon said Thursday it would suspend its corporate hiring.