Lift-off. That’s the conclusion to which observers jumped when the government announced on Friday that the economy added 271,000 jobs in October. And that the August and September figures have been revised upward by 12,000. And that the unemployment rate fell to 5 percent. And that discouraged workers and those looking for fuller-time jobs fell to 9.8 percent of the work force, the lowest level since May 2008. And that average hourly earnings in the private sector were up by 2.5 percent from October of last year, the strongest reading since July 2009.
Federal Reserve Board chairwoman Janet Yellen said only a few days ago that the monetary policy committee would likely raise rates if the economy seemed strong enough “to generate further improvements in the labor market.” This jobs report certainly is an early Christmas gift to Yellen, who had been hoping that she would be able to turn her hints about raising rates into actual increases.
