The U.S. economy added far more jobs in October than expected

NPR | By Scott Horsley,

A Martínez

Published November 6, 2026 at 4:46 AM EST

Employers added 165,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said on Friday, blowing past economists' expected gains of around 59,000 jobs.

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Scott Horsley

Scott Horsley is NPR's Chief Economics Correspondent.

A Martínez

A Martínez is one of the hosts of Morning Edition and Up First.