US jobs growth beats forecasts as companies shrug off government shutdown

More than 200,000 jobs were created in the United States last month as American companies shrugged off the government shutdown.
Official figures showed that ‘non-farm payrolls’ – a crucial measure of health in the world’s biggest economy – rose by 204,000 in October.
That was well above the 125,000 expected by economists and raised hopes the economy withstood the 16-day closure of all but the most vital government services at the start of the month amid political wrangling over the budget.

Working well: The strong jobs figures raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will soon start 'tapering' its quantitative easing programme

However, the unemployment rate rose from 7.2 per cent to 7.3 per cent as government employees sent home during the partial shutdown were counted as unemployed.


Analysts said the stronger than expected rise in jobs – hot on the heels of figures showing output grew at an annual rate of 2.8 per cent in the third quarter – showed the economy was in better shape than feared. 
It raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will start ‘tapering’ its $85billion a month programme of quantitative easing sooner than expected – possibly as soon as next month.
Upbeat figures from China – where exports and imports both rose in October – bolstered hopes that the global economy is on the mend.
But it was not enough to stop Britain’s goods trade deficit with the rest of the world widening to £9.8billion in September as exports fell by £200million to £25.1billion and imports rose by £100million to £34.9bn.
The trade deficit with the European Union also hit a record high of £6billion as  exports to the recession-weary region tumbled.