U.S. employers added 165,000 jobs in October, with professional and business services accounting for the largest gain. The unemployment rate was 4.1%, and more people reported working part time because they could not find full-time work or had their hours cut.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics report, released Nov. 6, puts October well above the average of 48,000 jobs added per month over the previous year. It also raised the estimates for August and September by a combined 84,000 jobs. That changes the picture going into October. The latest figures put September's gain at 60,000, up from the 29,000 initially reported, and August's at 186,000, up from 133,000.
Where the jobs were added
Professional and business services added 70,000 jobs, compared with a monthly average of 15,000 over the previous year. Professional, scientific and technical services accounted for 33,000 of that increase. Administrative and support services, a category that also includes waste management and remediation, added 28,000. Company management accounted for another 9,000.
Health care added 42,000 jobs, above its 31,000 monthly average over the previous year. Hospitals accounted for 16,000 and home health care for 11,000. Transportation and warehousing added 25,000, with couriers and messengers accounting for 17,000. Together, the three broad sectors accounted for about 83% of the net payroll gain. Manufacturing employment also trended higher, adding 19,000 jobs. BLS reported little change in many other sectors, including construction, retail, leisure and hospitality, and government.
For job seekers, those details are more informative than the national total. The report shows where payrolls expanded during October. It measures net employment after gains and losses, so it does not show how many positions are open today or how many people employers interviewed.
The sector figures also have limits. For example, the rise in courier employment describes payroll jobs in that industry. It does not measure the number of independent delivery contractors or tell readers whether individual employers are adding permanent positions. The household survey offers a separate view of how much work people can find.
Why part-time work rose alongside payrolls
BLS gets the payroll count from a survey of employers. It gets the unemployment rate and information about part-time work from a separate survey of households. A worker who wants a full-time job and can find only part-time hours counts as employed in the household survey. That is one reason the unemployment rate can change little even when more people report that they cannot get the hours they want.
In October, the number working part time for economic reasons rose by 339,000 to 4.8 million. The number of unemployed people changed little at 7.1 million, and labor force participation was 61.9%. Participation includes people who have a job or are actively looking for one. People outside the labor force who want a job can therefore be missing from the headline unemployment figure.
What the report says about pay
Average hourly earnings for private-sector payroll employees rose 14 cents to $38, up 0.4% for the month and 3.1% from a year earlier. The average workweek held at 34.4 hours. Those are national averages before adjusting for inflation, so they cannot tell a worker how much further an October paycheck went. September’s inflation-adjusted hourly earnings were down 0.7% from a year earlier, according to the BLS real earnings release.
Friday's figures also answer a different question from the ADP report earlier in the week, which estimated that private employers added 86,000 jobs in October. The BLS headline includes government employment and comes from a separate survey. The two figures are estimates from different sources and should not be added together. The next BLS jobs report is scheduled for Dec. 4, when October's initial payroll estimate will be subject to revision.
