U.S. Unemployment Edges Up to 5.7% in Oct.

The unemployment rate in the United States rose by 0.1% in October, the Labor Department said Friday to 5.7%.

The report said that U.S. non-farm payrolls fell 5,000 in the month after a revised decline of 13,000 in September.

Unemployment news is often a driver of consumer confidence, which can have an impact on spending rates. When consumers do not feel secure about their job, they tend to not spend and that can put a pinch on trucking companies that rely on spending to drive demand.

Consumer spending slipped 0.4% in September, according to a report by the Commerce Department, even as personal income rose by 0.4%.

Experts told Bloomberg that the spending report showed that consumers are growing weary of trying to sustain the economy through the current slowdown.

In looking at the unemployment report, manufacturing – the most important sector of the economy to the trucking industry – lost 49,000 jobs, putting total manufacturing employment at its lowest since November 1961. Factory hours also fell to 40.7hours.

Average weekly earnings fell to $507.75 from $508.21 in September – but they are still 3% higher than last year.

Both the reports, according to several analysts, clear the way for the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee to cut interest rates when it meets next week. Bloomberg said that may observers expect a cut of between 25 and 50 basis points. Interest rates are currently at 40-year lows of 1.75%.

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