By Townhall Chicago News Staff
The U.S. economy added 165,000 jobs last month, about double what forecasters had predicted, according to an October report from the Labor Department aired on Fox News Friday.
The unemployment rate ticked down about a tenth of a point to 4.1 percent, according to the report.
Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said in comments aired on Fox News that the numbers reflect a trend he expects to continue.
“This report shows that the job numbers are going to completely continue to beat expectations as they have, and we’re going to create new high-paying, high-skilled private sector jobs,” Sonderling said.
A caller identified as Will, from Skokie, said the new jobs figures have not changed how consumers feel about prices.
“When we had inflation that was high, the prices went up. When the inflation came down, the prices stayed pretty much where they were,” Will said. He said the disconnect persists even as job growth outpaces estimates. “The number of jobs, they did twice what they estimated the jobs were going to be,” he said. “The economy is turning around, and I think it’s going to turn around pretty well.”
Mancow Muller, a guest co-host on the Friday broadcast, cited a 2 percent growth figure for the economy during the discussion, though the figure was not otherwise detailed or sourced during the program.
The October jobs report arrives as the White House has pointed to recent economic data to defend its policies. Friday’s broadcast did not include comment from an economist outside the Labor Department or Fox News’ own reporting.
