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WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — The latest jobs report shows a strong market, with another 261,000 added in October.

While the White House characterized the report as welcome news for struggling Americans, it also guarantees that the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates as it tries to squash inflation.

“Our economy continues to grow even as gas prices continue to come down,” President Joe Biden said Friday. “But we’ve got a lot more to do “

The report shows unemployment increased slightly from 3.5% to 3.7%, which U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh suggested could be the first sign that the Fed’s efforts to slow inflation are working.

“I think what we’re starting to see now is hopefully a transition into a slow, steady economy, meaning that we’ll see job growth gains but it’s not as strong as they were in the past, and I think that’s what we want to see,” Walsh said. “I think we have the ability to bring down inflation but also see good, strong gains in jobs.”

Earlier this week, the Fed raised interest rates again in an aggressive push to try to stymie inflation. But with nearly two job openings for every unemployed worker, it will likely need to do more.

It was the final jobs report before Tuesday’s midterms. Republicans are hammering Democrats over inflation and the economy.

“Families are hurting,” former Vice President Mike Pence said Friday while campaigning for Republican U.S. House candidates in Michigan, promising Republicans would implement “policies that are going to lift the burden of inflation and the high cost of energy on working families.”

Democrats blame high prices on outside factors like the war in Ukraine and supply chain issues.