WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy has cooled but continues to expand with employers hiring, consumers spending and growth stabilizing.

Employment grew by a seasonally adjusted 128,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department reported Friday, a solid performance considering a strike at General Motors plants and a decline in the federal workforce temporarily reduced payrolls by more than 50,000.

The unemployment rate ticked up from a 50-year low to 3.6% in October as hundreds of thousands of Americans joined the labor force. Wage growth remained steady, up 3% from a year earlier.

Friday’s figures also showed job growth was stronger in August and September than previously reported. That and other economic news point to a U.S. economy that is growing at a stable but slower rate compared with 2018, despite signs of global slowdown.

“The U.S. economy is in a good place,” Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said in a speech Friday afternoon. “Growth has been supported by the continued strength of household consumption, underpinned, in turn, by a thriving labor market.”