WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 337,000 net jobs in October, the government reported Friday, the biggest jump in seven months and a hopeful sign that hiring may finally be gaining momentum after a sluggish summer.
In the first major statistical glimpse of the economy in the October-December quarter, the Labor Department portrayed a job market gaining vibrancy although employment still has not caught up to its level before the 2001 recession.
Meanwhile, so many workers began looking for positions last month that the unemployment rate rose slightly to 5.5%.
Economists suggested that employers who had been relying on labor-saving productivity enhancements might at last be adding more workers in an economy whose growth rate had picked up of late. Only time will tell, though, whether the labor market is really gaining steam -- or whether bigger job gains will prove ephemeral, as they have before.
"We saw similarly strong job growth in the early spring, but it faltered over the summer," said Lawrence Mishel, president of the liberal Economic Policy Institute. "We will see over the next several months whether the labor market has finally established a firm recovery."
The October job increase was nearly double the 175,000 expected by economists. In addition, the Labor Department revised upward by 113,000 the net jobs added during the previous two months.
But improving work prospects drew an additional 367,000 people into the labor market, driving the unemployment rate up one-tenth of a point from the 5.4% it stood at in August and September.
The report put the nation just 371,000 positions shy of regaining all the net jobs lost during President Bush's first term -- a period marked by the 2001 recession and terrorist attacks and continued fallout from the popping of the stock market's bubble. If the government eventually confirms a provisional upward revision of 236,000 jobs for the 12 months ended in March, Bush's deficit so far would drop to just 135,000.
During the election campaign, Democrats frequently asserted that Bush was on his way to becoming the first president since Herbert Hoover to have a net job loss during his term. It now looks more likely that he can avoid that ignominious comparison.
The Bush administration hailed October's job growth as the product of its tax cuts. "The growing strength of the U.S. economy is further evident in today's employment report," Treasury Secretary John W. Snow said.
