Scott Bessent is in a celebrating mood.
“Thanks to America’s unrivaled entrepreneurial spirit and dynamism, the re-industrialization and re-privatization of the American economy are gathering extraordinary force,” the Treasury secretary wrote on X after the Nov. 6 jobs report.
He pointed to two numbers. “Our great American companies have created nearly 400,000 private-sector jobs in the past three months,” Bessent wrote. “Manufacturing employment has now risen by over 100,000 in 2026 alone.”
The jobs report gave him plenty to work with. The question for your wallet is different: Is all that hiring showing up in your paycheck?
What Bessent got right
The October report was strong by almost any measure.
Employers added 165,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Economists had expected about 65,000, according to forecasts collected by the White House.
The BLS also revised August and September up by a combined 84,000 jobs. By my math, that puts total hiring at about 411,000 over the past three months.
Government payrolls barely moved, falling 18,000 in September and adding 6,000 in October, BLS data show. So Bessent’s “nearly 400,000” private-sector figure fits the data.
The pace has picked up sharply. Job growth averaged 137,000 a month over the past three months, versus 48,000 a month over the prior year, The National Desk reported.
The share of prime-age Americans with a job also hit 80.7%, just above its pre-pandemic level, the outlet reported.
Related: Chevron CEO disagrees with Scott Bessent’s take on the economy
His factory claim holds up, too, with one wrinkle. Manufacturing employment has risen by 101,000 since a recent low in December 2025, the BLS said, and factories added 19,000 jobs in October.
“This was a blowout jobs report,” Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones said, the White House release noted.
What the headline numbers leave out
Not every economist sees a factory boom.
That December low matters, and so does where you start the clock. Measured from January 2025, factory employment is up only about 8,000 jobs, The National Desk reported.
Elise Gould of the Economic Policy Institute called the manufacturing gains “welcome news” but “hardly a manufacturing boom,” the outlet reported.
More on the economy:
- Fed Chair Kevin Warsh reveals October surprise inside interest-rate pause
- J.P. Morgan sees Fed rate hikes going out with a bang this year
- Bessent doubles down on bond fix as mortgage rates near 7.5%
She did credit the drop in unemployment, saying it happened for the “right” reasons: more people working and more people looking for work.
Health care also did a lot of the lifting, adding 42,000 jobs in October, the BLS said. Professional and business services added 70,000.
The federal workforce tells the other half of Bessent’s “re-privatization” story. It has shrunk by 333,000 jobs since the start of 2025, The National Desk reported.
What it means for your paycheck
Here’s where the good news gets complicated.
Average hourly pay rose 3.1% over the past year to $38.00, the BLS reported. But consumer prices rose 3.7% over the 12 months through September, and gasoline jumped 34.2%, BLS inflation data show.
By my math, a full-time worker earning that average wage got a raise of about $2,380 a year. Keeping up with 3.7% inflation would have taken about $2,840.
That’s roughly a $460 shortfall, even in a year with a raise.
“Workers are losing ground right now,” Indeed economist Cory Stahle told NPR. “The longer it wears on, the more and more they’re going to feel that.”
If you’re due for a review, I’d bring that 3.7% number with you. A strong job market is the best bargaining power most workers get, and right now employers are hiring.
The Fed is watching, too
A hot jobs market doesn’t automatically mean cheaper borrowing.
The Federal Reserve raised rates in September for the first time in more than three years and held steady in October. Investors now expect another hike in December, NPR reported.
A strong report gives the Fed more room to keep fighting inflation, which means credit card and loan rates could stay high or climb.
The next big test comes with October’s inflation report, due this week. If prices cooled, the gap between wages and inflation could start to close.
So Bessent’s numbers are real. Hiring is up, unemployment is down, and factories are adding workers again.
The catch is that a job only builds wealth if the paycheck outruns your bills. For now, for the average worker, it doesn’t.
Related: Scott Bessent just reframed the case for a December rate hike
