Nonfarm payroll employment added 261,000 jobs in October, after gaining 315,000 jobs (upward revision) in September, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Average monthly job growth for this year so far is 407,000, below 2021’s 562,000 average.
Health care leads job growth for the month
Health care employment gained 53,000 jobs in October, with growth in ambulatory health care services (+31,000), nursing and residential care facilities (+11,000), and hospitals (+11,000). The industry has added an average of 47,000 jobs per month in 2022 thus far, a much higher average than in 2021 (9,000).
Other industries with job gains over the month included:
- Professional and business services (+43,000)
- Leisure and hospitality (+35,000)
- Manufacturing (+32,000)
- Social assistance (+19,000)
- Wholesale trade (+15,000)
Unemployment rates inch up
The unemployment rate rose from 3.5% to 3.7% in October, representing 6.1 million unemployed people. Since March, the unemployment rate has remained between 3.5% and 3.7%.
The unemployment rates for most major worker groups also increased slightly in October:
- Adult men: 3.3% (3.3% in September)
- Adult women: 3.4% (3.1% in September)
- Teenagers: 11.0% (11.4% in September)
- Black: 5.9% (5.8% in September)
- Hispanic: 4.2% (3.8% in September)
- Asian: 2.9% (2.5% in September)
- White: 3.2% (3.1% in September)
Little change in job loss numbers
The number of people experiencing permanent job loss and temporary layoffs changed little in October, at 1.2 million and 847,000, respectively. Long-term unemployment (jobless for 27 weeks or more) crept up to 1.2 million (19.5% of the total unemployed), and the labor force participation rate came in at 62.2% for the month.
There were 3.7 million people working part time for economic reasons in October — these individuals would’ve preferred to work full time but either had their hours reduced or couldn’t find full-time jobs.
Among the 5.7 million people outside the labor force who wanted a job in October, 1.5 million were marginally attached to the labor force (had looked for a job at some point over the past year, but not in the four weeks before the survey). The number of discouraged workers (those who believed no jobs were available for them) dropped down to 371,000 during the month.
Average earnings continue to increase
Average hourly earnings for private nonfarm employees jumped another $0.12 (or 0.4%) in October and is now at $32.58. And for the fifth consecutive month, the average workweek was 34.5 hours.
