October Employment Report: Firm in Most Respects

Summary

• Nonfarm payrolls rose 165K in October, surpassing the expected 65K increase.
• August and September payrolls were revised upward by a combined 84K.
• The six-month average monthly payroll increase is now 82K, compared to 10K in 2025.
• Business services employment jumped 70K, the strongest gain since mid-2022.
• Business services contributed an additional 52K jobs to the August and September revisions.
• Manufacturing posted its fifth consecutive monthly gain of 19K and added 10K to revisions.
• Health-care employment increased by 55K, bringing the sector close to its long-run average.
• The headline unemployment rate dipped 0.1 percentage point to 4.1%.
• Job growth in the household survey exceeded labor force growth by 42K (463K vs 421K).
• The broad unemployment rate (U-6) rose 0.3 percentage point to 7.9%.
• Involuntary part-time workers and those who stopped searching for jobs in the past four weeks both increased.
• Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% in October, the firmest increase of the year.
• Year-over-year average hourly earnings growth stands at 3.1%.
• CPI inflation exceeded average hourly earnings growth due to a surge in energy prices.
• The average workweek remained at 34.4 hours for the third consecutive month.
• Employment and earnings data were collected from surveys taken during the week containing the 12th day of the month.