Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 250,000 in October, an increase from last month’s downwardly revised reading of 118,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national unemployment rate remained at 3.7%.
Private service-providing industries gained 179,000 jobs, led by education and health services, which added 44,000 jobs.
Goods-producing employment rose by 67,000 jobs during the month, as gains in manufacturing led by adding 32,000. Construction employment gained 30,000 jobs in October.
The civilian labor force participation rate ticked up to 62.9 percent. Workers unemployed for less than 14 weeks increased by 93,000, while the number of long-term unemployed, those jobless for 27 weeks or more, fell by 11,000 and accounted for 22 percent of the unemployed. The number of discouraged workers was 506,000, down slightly from a year earlier.
Average hourly earnings rose by 5 cents, settling at $27.30. Over the past year, average hourly earnings have risen by 83 cents, or 3.1%. This is the strongest growth of the post-recession period.
Read the BLS release.
