The
U.S. Labor Department announced on Friday that nonfarm payrolls rose by 531,000
in October after a revised 312,000 advance in the prior month (originally an increase
of 194,000). This was the biggest monthly advance since July.
According
to the report, job growth was widespread in October, with notable job gains occurring
in leisure and hospitality (+164,000), in professional and business services (+100,000),
in manufacturing (+60,000), and in transportation and warehousing (+54,000). At
the same time, employment in public education (-65,000) declined over the
month.
The
unemployment rate declined to 4.6 percent in October from 4.8 percent in September.
This was the lowest rate since March 2020. Still, the rate remained well above
the pre-crisis level of about 3.5 percent.
Economists
had forecast the nonfarm payrolls to increase by 450,000 and the jobless rate
to slip to 4.7 percent.
The
labor force participation rate remained unchanged m-o-m at 61.6 percent in
October, while hourly earnings for private-sector
workers rose 0.4 percent m-o-m (or $0.11) to $30.96, following an unrevised 0.6
percent m-o-m gain in September. Economists had forecast the average hourly
earnings to rise 0.4 percent m-o-m in October. Over the year, the average
hourly earnings jumped 4.9 percent in October, following an unrevised 4.6 percent
climb in September.
The
average workweek decreased 0.1 hour to 34.7 hours in October, being slightly below
economists' forecast for 34.8 hours.