Quick Facts:
- Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 261,000 in October.
- The unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent.
- Notable job gains occurred in health care, professional and technical services, and manufacturing.
- The labor force participation rate, at 62.2 percent, and the employment-population ratio, at 60.0 percent, were about unchanged in October.
- The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 1.2 million in October.
Looking Forward:
- Job growth was stronger than expected in October despite Federal Reserve interest rate increases aimed at slowing what is still a relatively strong labor market. Nonfarm payrolls grew by 261,000 for the month while the unemployment rate moved higher to 3.7%.
- Healthcare led job gains, adding 53,000 positions, while professional and technical services contributed 43,000, and manufacturing grew by 32,000. Leisure and hospitality also posted solid growth, up 35,000 jobs, though the pace of increases has slowed considerably from the gains posted in 2021. The group, which includes hotel, restaurant and bar jobs along with related sectors, is averaging gains of 78,000 a month this year, compared with 196,000 last year.
- The new figures come as the Fed is on a campaign to bring down inflation running at an annual rate of 8.2%, according to one government gauge. Earlier this week, the central bank approved its fourth consecutive 0.75 percentage point interest rate increase, taking benchmark borrowing rates to a range of 3.75%-4%.
- Risks to the economy are growing as the Fed continues to battle high inflation, said economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal last month. They put the probability of a recession in the next year at 63%, up from 49% in July’s survey.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
