Key Points:
- Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 531,000 in October as the unemployment rate fell 0.2% to 4.6%.
- Consensus among economists was a gain of 450,000 jobs.
- Nonfarm employment is down by 5.7 Million from pre-pandemic levels in February 2020.
- Employment in retail trade increased by 35,000 in October, and is down by 140,000 since February 2020.
- Manufacturing employment rose by 60,000, but is still down 270,000 from its level in February 2020.
- Employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 164,000 in October.
- In October, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 11 cents to $30.96.
- The average workweek for all private employees decreased by 0.1 hours to 34.7 hours in October.
- The labor force participation rate was unchanged again at 61.6% in October and is 1.7% lower than February 2020.