US Government Shutdown 'Not to Blame' for Rise in Jobless Rate

The US government shutdown is not to blame for the country's unemployment spike last month.

The US Labor Department stressed that there were no "discernible impacts" of the partial federal government shutdown on the estimates of employment, hours, and earnings.

The announcement comes as the department revealed that the nation's jobless rate rose to 7.3% in October, up from 7.2% in September.

The data also found that the US economy added 204,000 new jobs in October.

The job numbers were despite a 16-day partial shutdown of the government last month, which was caused by a political argument over raising the country's debt-ceiling.

In addition, the report also disclosed 60,000 more jobs created in September and August than previously reported.

The news is a positive for the world's biggest economy.

US Government Shutdown

The partial shutdown was the first for the US government in 17 years. The last time it was shut down was in 1995-96 when services were suspended for a record 21 days.

More than 800,000 US government workers, including 400,000 from the defence department, were forced to take unpaid leave.

The White House estimated at the time that it would cost the economy $10bn (£6.19bn, €7.4bn).