Associated Press
November 3, 2006
Unemployment Rate Drops to 5-Year Low
of 4.4 Percent, Payrolls Grow by 92,000
By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON -- The unemployment rate dropped to a five-year low of 4.4
percent in October as employers added 92,000 new jobs.
The latest report, released Friday by the Labor Department, showed that
the civilian unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage point from 4.6
percent in September. It marked the third month in a row that the
jobless rate declined.
Employers added 148,000 jobs in September, versus the 51,000 first
reported. Payrolls grew by a robust 230,000 in August, stronger than
the 188,000 slots previously recorded.
Workers' average hourly earnings climbed to $16.91 in October, a
sizable 0.4 percent increase from September. That increase was bigger
than the 0.3 percent rise economists were expecting. Over the last 12
months, wages grew by 3.9 percent.
The average time that the unemployed spent in their search for work in
October was 16.5 weeks, an improvement from the average 17.4 weeks
registered in September.
The 4.4 percent unemployment rate is the lowest since the spring of
2001.
The drop in the overall unemployment rate surprised economists who were
expecting the unemployment rate to hold steady in October or possibly
edge up a notch.
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