Job Growth for October, LOWEST Since December 2020.
Last Friday’s BLS report saw a significant drop in job creation across the U.S., with 12,000 jobs being added, the lowest since December 2020! While the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, this stability misrepresented underlying shifts in the labor force and time will tell if this is a true stabilization.
Factors such as the Boeing strike, Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and a constrained data collection period significantly dampened employment figures. Despite these challenges, healthcare and government sectors continued to expand. At the same time, manufacturing, professional services, and temporary help services experienced significant declines.
The Numbers*:
The U.S. economy added 12,000 jobs in October, well below the 113,000 gain that was predicted by economists and the lowest since December 2020.
The unemployment rate remained the same at 4.1%.
There were 7.4M open jobs on the last working day of September.
The labor force participation rate had a slight decrease to 62.6%.
The number of job quits (voluntary exits) in the U.S. increased to 3.7 million.
- Average hourly earnings increased by 0.4%, to $35.46, marking a 4% year-over-year increase, though this remains below inflation-adjusted expectations.
- Average weekly hours worked held steady to 34.3 hours per week, suggesting consistent, if restrained, demand for labor.
- Total hires were 6.1M, while total separations were 5.9M.
- Within separations, layoffs/discharges accounted for 1.7 million of the total.
Industry Trends:
| Industry | October Jobs | Notes |
| Healthcare | + 52,000 | In line with the average monthly gain of 58,000 over the prior 12 months. |
| Government | + 40,00 | Continued its upward trend in October, similar to the average monthly gain. |
| Professional and business services | – 25,000 | |
| Manufacturing | – 7,000 | Reflecting a decline of 44,000 in transportation equipment manufacturing that was largely due to strike activity. |
August was revised down by 81,000, from +159,000 to +78,000, and the change for September was revised down by 31,000, from +254,000 to +223,000.
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* Above represents October 2024 Data
Sources:
