American employers reduced their hiring pace in October following impressive job growth in the previous month. The decline partially reflects the impact of the United Auto Workers' strikes.

Last month, the U.S. added 150,000 jobs, according to the Department of Labor's report on Friday, which is slightly below economists' expectations of 180,000 jobs. The unemployment rate increased to 3.9%.

According to the government's revised estimates, job growth in October was about half of the 297,000 jobs added in September.

The slowdown partly reflects the impact of the unprecedented UAW strike against all three major automakers, although the union recently reached agreements with each of them. Employment in factories decreased by 35,000 jobs in October.

Overall, the data continues to show decent growth rates, despite the Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hikes.

Wage growth has slowed slightly, which may help convince the Federal Reserve that overall inflation is slowing down.

Average hourly wages in October increased by 4.1% compared to the previous year, which likely slightly exceeded the cost of living.