Unemployment Drops, But Pandemic Surge Clouds Hopes For Recovery

A women holds a sign saying “We Need Our Jobs” during a protest by workers in the cruise ship industry in Miami on Oct. 21, 2020. Employers added fewer jobs as pandemic cases start to surge again across the country.

Lynne Sladky / AP

Updated at 9:02 a.m. ET

U.S. employers added 638,000 jobs last month, as the economy continued its slow recovery from the coronavirus recession. Job growth slowed for the fourth month in a row.

Unemployment fell to 6.9% from 7.9% in September, even as more than 700,000 people entered the labor force. Women rejoined the workforce at nearly twice the rate of men, partially reversing a female exodus in September.