The U.S. economy added 261,000 non-farm jobs in October, below the average monthly job growth of 407,000 that has been recorded so far this year, according to a Friday (Nov. 4) report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
At the same time, the unemployment rate inched up by 0.2 percentage points to 3.7%, which is within the range of 3.5% to 3.7% seen since March. The number of people who are unemployed now stands at 6.1 million.
The healthcare, professional and technical services, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing sectors were standout performers in terms of job growth.
Healthcare employment rose by 53,000, with gains in ambulatory healthcare services, nursing and residential care facilities, and hospitals.
Professional and technical services accounted for 43,000 of the added jobs for the month, with increases in management and technical consulting services, architectural and engineering services, and scientific research and development services.
Employment in the leisure and hospitality industry rose by 35,000 jobs, with accommodation adding 20,000 and food services and drinking places contributing 6,000 to the gains for the month.
“Employment in leisure and hospitality is down by 1.1 million, or 6.5%, from its February 2020 level,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in the report.
The manufacturing sector added 32,000 jobs in October, with durable goods industries accounting for 23,000 of those new positions.
The additions showed that the labor market still has resilience, but a report released earlier this week about job openings showed declines in both the number of jobs filled and the number of jobs from which workers voluntarily quit, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
“Firms are becoming more cautious about the outlook. And workers [are] too,” Nomura Senior U.S. Economist Rob Dent said in the report.
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