U.S. Adds 531,000 Jobs in October, Exceeding Expectations

The U..S. economy recorded an increase of 531,000 jobs in October, and unemployment fell by 0.2% as the labor market recovers from the summer lows, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The number of unemployed people fell to 7.4 million, down from 7.7 million in September, according to the BLS report released Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones projected 450,000 jobs would be added in October.

While unemployment claims continue to fall, the country still struggles with labor shortages, supply chain issues and growing inflation.  Job growth was widespread throughout the economy in October, with leisure and hospitality adding 164,000 jobs, professional and business adding 100,000 and manufacturing adding 60,000 jobs, according to the BLS report.

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Bonfire Restaurants Latest COVID Casualty, Announces Permanent Closure of All Locations

Bonfire Restaurants announced Friday that it will permanently close all five of its Minnesota locations because of the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The company said in a statement that its locations in Blaine, Eagan, Mankato, Savage, and Woodbury will not be reopening.

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Half Of Minnesota’s Hospitality Businesses May Close Permanently Amidst Walz Shutdowns

Most of Minnesota’s hospitality businesses may be forced to close permanently as a result of Governor Tim Walz’s economic shutdown orders, warns Hospitality Minnesota.

Hospitality Minnesota is an association for lodging, restaurant, resorts and campgrounds, per the organization’s website. This group, along with the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association, the Community of Minnesota Resorts and the Craft Brewers Guild say that existing releif packages aren’t doing enough to keep hospitality based businesses afloat in the state. As a result, over half of these businesses may be forced out of business forever if things don’t change soon, per a local CBS affiliate.

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