165,000 Jobs, 3.1% Raises: The October Numbers That Don't Fit the Midterm Story

The U.S. economy added 165,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, November 6, 2026 — three days after midterm elections in which Democrats won full control of Congress amid voter frustration over the economy and the cost of living.

The headline number was far above what economists expected. Dow Jones had estimated 59,000; other forecasts ran between 59,000 and 65,000. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1% from 4.2%. August and September totals were revised up by a combined 84,000 jobs.

The labor force grew by 421,000 people, and the unemployment rate still fell. Job gains were concentrated in professional and business services, health care, and manufacturing, with transportation and warehousing also cited.

Wages are the complication. Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% month-over-month, the biggest gain since January, but only 3.1% year-over-year. That annual figure is the one that matters for purchasing power, and it is the reason the strong hiring headline does not settle the argument that drove the midterm outcome.

The broader U-6 measure, which includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons, rose to 7.9%, up 0.3 percentage point. That increase came alongside the 421,000-person jump in the civilian labor force — more people looking for work, not fewer.

The report complicates the political narrative. Voters punished Republicans over the economy, handing Democrats full control of Congress. President Donald Trump, a Republican, now faces a Congress controlled by the opposition and a labor market that showed surprising strength in the same week his party lost.

What the report does not resolve is whether 3.1% annual wage growth is outpacing or lagging inflation. Without that comparison, the purchasing-power question remains open. The Federal Reserve will read the same numbers, and a stronger labor market could influence its interest rate choices, though no policy decision follows automatically from one report.

What is clear from the data: hiring accelerated, revisions added jobs, and more people entered the labor force. What is not clear: whether the workers who voted on cost-of-living frustration are actually getting ahead.