U.S. adds 165,000 payroll jobs in October; prior two months revised up by 84,000

Stronger payroll growth, little change in unemployment

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on November 6 that U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 in October, above the average monthly gain of 48,000 over the prior 12 months. Unemployment was 4.1%, which BLS described as little changed. The report was released at 08:30 Eastern Standard Time, or 21:30 in Taipei that day.^[1]

August and September were revised higher

August job growth was revised from 133,000 to 186,000, and September from 29,000 to 60,000. Together, the two months added 84,000 more jobs than previously reported. BLS attributes revisions to additional reports from businesses and government agencies and recalculated seasonal factors.^[1]

Average hourly earnings on private nonfarm payrolls rose 0.4% in October to $38.00, an increase of 3.1% over 12 months. The average workweek remained at 34.4 hours. The monthly and annual pay changes cover different periods.^[1]

More people wanted full-time work but could only work part time

In the household survey, employment part time for economic reasons rose by 339,000 to about 4.8 million. These workers wanted full-time jobs but had their hours reduced or could not find full-time work. More payroll jobs can coexist with workers getting fewer hours than they want.^[1]

Payroll employment and earnings come from the establishment survey; unemployment and these part-time figures come from the household survey. The surveys measure different populations. Subtracting the increase in part-time workers from payroll growth would not give the net change in full-time employment. October employment figures remain subject to revision, and one report cannot determine the next interest-rate decision or the direction of bitcoin prices.^[1]

Editorial disclosure

BlockBlah prepared this article with AI assistance. Codex checked the sources and all three language versions. This is not investment advice.