STRONG

Annual Wage Gains Hit 3.1% in October, Highest Since 2009

Payrolls added 250,000, exceeding analysts’ expectations.

Average American wages recorded the largest annual gain in nine years as U.S. employers’ hiring exceeded expectations for October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. According to the new monthly job numbers, the average hourly earnings rose 3.1 percent—the first time that measure has topped 3 percent since 2009, Bloomberg News reports. Unemployment remained unchanged at a 49-year low of 3.7 percent. Non-farm payrolls rose 250,000 as hiring in the leisure and hospitality sector rebounded after the damage of Hurricane Florence. Manufacturing, construction, and professional and business services payrolls also saw big gains. The Labor Department said Hurricane Michael, which hit the Florida Panhandle mid-October, “had no discernible effect on the national employment and unemployment estimates for October.”