The American economy added 261,000 jobs in October, the Department of Labor announced Friday. The payroll numbers were higher than some predicted, but the rate of unemployment—which rose to 3.7 percent—got slightly worse, despite remaining near a 50-year low. The news comes after the Federal Reserve increased interest rates yet again in a bid to counter inflation. The central bank on Wednesday signed off on its fourth consecutive 0.75 percentage point interest rate increase, with benchmark borrowing rates moving to a range of between 3.75 percent and 4 percent after a year at 0 during the pandemic.
