US adds 261,000 jobs in October as unemployment rate rises slightly

Final jobs report before midterms shows jobless rate at 3.7%, a day after Federal Reserve announced further interest rate hike

The US economy added 261,000 jobs in October, the labor department announced on Friday in its last snapshot of the health of the employment market before next week's midterm elections.

The latest report confirmed the remarkable strength of the US jobs market. The unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, still close to a 50-year low. The news comes after the Federal Reserve once again raised interest rates in an effort to slow investment and bring down inflation, a move that economists and the Fed predict will eventually cost jobs.