The latest jobs report shows a booming economy with more opportunities for families in West Michigan and across the nation. An astounding 250,000 jobs were created in October while Hispanic unemployment hit a record low, and wages rose by their largest amount in a decade. Below are reactions from around the nation to Friday’s spectacular job numbers.

Republican Policies Are Delivering Better Pay, More Opportunities, and Faster Economic Growth. Don’t think tax reform and deregulation matter for working people? Consider the evidence from Friday’s gangbuster jobs report for October that showed the tangible dividend for workers from faster economic growth resulting from better economic policy: More jobs to choose from and higher pay to boot. … Average hourly wages rose again and are now 3.1% above a year ago, the fastest increase in a decade. This is the growth dividend that Republicans promised if the dead weight of Barack Obama’s policies could be lifted from the backs of American business and workforce. … Apparently thousands of Americans have been waiting for the right job, or a better paying one, because the civilian labor force grew by 711,000 in October and four-fifths of them found jobs. (The Wall Street Journal, 11/3/2018)

The Booming Economy is Helping Americans Across All Walks Of Life. Labor force participation ticked up 0.2 percentage points last month to 62.9%, which is at the higher end of its range in recent years. More auspicious, the labor participation rate for prime working-age individuals (ages 25 to 54) has risen 0.7 percentage points to 82.3% and for teens has increased to 35.5% from 34.7% over the last year. This labor-force growth has been offset by a decline in participants ages 20 to 24, perhaps due to more students relying on loans and grants to pay for college. Labor force participation for those without a high school diploma has also increased to 47.7% from 46.2% over the last year as employers continue to pull lower-skill workers from the sidelines. Teen unemployment has fallen to 11.9% from 13.7% since October 2017. So much for growth benefiting only the rich. (The Wall Street Journal, 11/3/2018)

Hispanic Unemployment Has Hit An All-Time Low because of Republican-led Tax Cuts and Efforts to Right-Size Regulation. Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress did their part by cutting red tape and passing tax reform. The economy is responding. Actually, it’s booming in a way Americans haven’t experienced in years. The business climate looks great and employers are hiring, and paying more. These are terrific times for American workers. … Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for Hispanics hit a record low 4.4 percent. It was near a record low for African-Americans at 6.2 percent. Employers are hiring for a reason: The business climate is exceptionally strong. Growth last quarter was 3.5 percent, significantly higher than the 2 percent average of the past decade. …. it’s undeniable the president and Congress get credit for this era of healthy job growth. (Chicago Tribune, 11/2/2018)

Discouraged Americans are Returning to the Workforce! Year-over-year wage growth above 3 percent for the first time in nearly a decade. Payrolls adding 250,000 new jobs, well above expectations. Unemployment unchanged at 3.7 percent, a 49-year low — and the rate would have dropped, except that more people returned to the labor force. First, it means Americans who had given up hope of finding work are back in the fight. That’s a major plus for society. Second, it suggests that the nation isn’t up against a growth-killing (or inflationary) labor shortage — because millions of others still haven’t returned to the job hunt. … The details on Friday’s numbers show the gains were broad: 30,000 new jobs in construction, 32,000 in manufacturing and 179,000 in services. Even retailers hired 2,400 added workers, after long hemorrhaging jobs. (New York Post, 11/2/2018)

President Obama’s Former Top Economic Adviser: I’m not seeing anything bad in this Jobs Report. “I’m not seeing anything bad in this jobs report,” said Jason Furman, the former head of the Council of Economic Advisers under Obama. “Strong hourly wage growth, even stronger weekly wage growth, higher labor force participation, lower broader underemployment, while job growth bounced back from last month and the unemployment rate remained low,” he said on Twitter Friday. (The Hill, 11/2/2018)

Bankrate.com Analyst: The October Report Shows More Jobs Than Expected, Surging Wages, and Greater Participation. “We saw better-than-expected payroll gains at 250,000 jobs, surging wages and increased labor force participation,” Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst for Bankrate.com said. “That’s a kind of an economic trinity that we haven’t often seen during this economic expansion.” (Fox Business, 11/1/2018)