U.S. job growth slowed significantly in October, with employers adding only 12,000 jobs amid labor strikes and hurricanes affecting employment levels. Despite this slowdown, the national unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1%, as reported by federal officials.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that job creation was considerably below the average monthly gain of 194,000 over the past year. While healthcare and government sectors saw employment increases, temporary help services experienced a decline in jobs. Manufacturing also saw a reduction due to strike activity.
Healthcare added 52,000 jobs in October, aligning with its average monthly gain over the previous year. Government jobs increased by 40,000 during the month, consistent with past trends.
In professional and business services, temporary help services faced a significant decline of 49,000 jobs in October. Since March 2022's peak, this sector has lost a total of 577,000 positions.
Manufacturing saw a decrease of 46,000 jobs in October; transportation equipment manufacturing alone declined by 44,000 due to Boeing's strike impacting suppliers.
Construction employment showed little change with an increase of just 8,000 jobs in October—lower than the previous year's monthly average gain of 20,000. Other industries such as wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing did not see notable changes.
Average hourly earnings for private nonfarm payroll employees rose by $0.13 or 0.4% to $35.46 in October. Over the last year, these earnings have increased by 4%.
The Bureau stated that Hurricanes Helene and Milton likely affected job data within certain industries but did not impact the national unemployment rate. State-level unemployment figures are expected on November 19.
Additionally, BLS revised its preliminary estimates for August and September downward; August's nonfarm employment changed from +159,000 to +78,000 while September's was adjusted from +254,000 to +223,000—making combined hiring for those months lower by 112,000 than initially reported.
