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Payrolls rose by 165,000 in October; the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.1%
Total nonfarm payrolls changed by +165,000. The 3-month average is +137,000. Unemployment rate 4.1% (−0.1pp, inside BLS’s ±0.3pp interval). Average hourly earnings rose 3.1% over 12 months.
Q1 How many jobs were added in October?
Total nonfarm payrolls changed by +165,000 to 159,293,000. That is outside BLS’s 90% confidence interval of ±122,000 on the monthly change. Private employers +159,000; government +6,000. Over three months payrolls averaged +137,000 a month, the highest since May 2026 for a 3-month average. Over 12 months payrolls changed by +885,000 (+0.6%); the average over the prior 12 months was +48,000 a month. 3 of the last 12 months showed a decline.
Payroll change
Q2 Which industries added or lost jobs?
Largest gains: professional and business services +70,000, private education and health services +53,000, transportation and warehousing +25,000. Largest declines: leisure and hospitality −13,000, wholesale trade −9,000, construction −3,000. BLS publishes no confidence interval for industry changes in the release, so these are point estimates.
| Industry | Oct | Sep | 12-month | 12-month % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mining and logging | −1K | −2K | −1K | −0.2% |
| Construction | −3K | +16K | +124K | +1.5% |
| Manufacturing | +19K | +13K | +78K | +0.6% |
| Wholesale trade | −9K | +8K | +14K | +0.2% |
| Retail trade | +6K | +13K | +63K | +0.4% |
| Transportation and warehousing | +25K | +7K | +17K | +0.3% |
| Utilities | +0.1K | +0.4K | +10K | +1.6% |
| Information | −1K | −11K | −119K | −4.2% |
| Financial activities | +7K | −14K | −99K | −1.1% |
| Professional and business services | +70K | +8K | +269K | +1.2% |
| Private education and health services | +53K | +21K | +525K | +1.9% |
| Health care | +42K | +377K | +2.1% | |
| Leisure and hospitality | −13K | +13K | +16K | +0.1% |
| Other services | +6K | +5K | +46K | +0.8% |
| Government | +6K | −18K | −58K | −0.2% |
| Federal | −1K | −71K | −2.6% | |
| State government | +8K | −14K | −0.3% | |
| Local government | −1K | +27K | +0.2% |
Q3 What did BLS revise?
Each release revises the two prior months as more survey responses arrive. Total nonfarm: August from +133,000 to +186,000; September from +29,000 to +60,000. Together the two months are 84,000 higher than previously reported.
| Series | Month | Previous release | Now | Revision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total nonfarm | Aug 2026 | +133K | +186K | +53K |
| Total nonfarm | Sep 2026 | +29K | +60K | +31K |
| Total private | Aug 2026 | +89K | +142K | +53K |
| Total private | Sep 2026 | +46K | +78K | +32K |
| Government | Aug 2026 | +44K | +44K | +0K |
| Government | Sep 2026 | −17K | −18K | −1K |
Q4 What did the household survey show?
The unemployment rate was 4.1% (−0.1pp, inside BLS’s ±0.3pp interval, so little changed). It is the lowest since August 2026, and has ranged from 4.1% to 4.5% over the last 12 months. The number unemployed changed by −41,000 (inside the ±425,000 interval). Long-term unemployed (27 weeks or more) were 27.6% of all unemployed.
| Measure | Oct | Sep | 1-month | 12-month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate (U-3) | 4.1% | 4.2% | −0.1pp | — |
| U-6 (unemployed + marginally attached + part time for economic reasons) | 7.9% | 7.6% | +0.3pp | — |
| Labor force participation rate | 61.9% | 61.8% | +0.1pp | — |
| Employment-population ratio | 59.3% | 59.2% | +0.1pp | — |
| Participation rate, ages 25-54 | 83.7% | 83.7% | 0.0pp | — |
| Employment-population ratio, ages 25-54 | 80.7% | 80.7% | 0.0pp | — |
| Unemployed | 7,068,000 | 7,109,000 | −41K | — |
| Employed | 163,615,000 | 163,152,000 | +463K | — |
| Unemployed 27 weeks or longer | 1,963,000 | 1,944,000 | +19K | — |
| Long-term unemployed, % of all unemployed | 27.6% | 27.1% | +0.5pp | — |
| Not in the labor force | 104,999,000 | 105,292,000 | −293K | — |
Q5 What happened to pay and hours?
Average hourly earnings for all private employees rose 14¢ (+0.4%) to $38.00, and 3.1% over 12 months (prior 3.2%). Annualized, the last 3 months ran at 3.9% and the last 6 at 3.2%. Production and nonsupervisory employees: $32.75, +0.4% on the month and 3.3% over 12 months. The average workweek was 34.4 hours (unchanged).
Average hourly earnings, all private
Q6 Where does this sit in history?
Payrolls are up 0.6% over 12 months, the highest since May 2025 for that rate. This month’s +165,000 is at or above 52% of monthly changes since 1939. The 4.1% unemployment rate is at or above 21% of months since 1948 (COVID months Mar 2020–Jun 2021 left out of both rankings).
| Decade | Avg monthly payroll change | Avg unemployment rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1930s (partial) | +147K | — |
| 1940s | +100K | 4.9% |
| 1950s | +89K | 4.5% |
| 1960s | +142K | 4.8% |
| 1970s | +162K | 6.2% |
| 1980s | +151K | 7.3% |
| 1990s | +183K | 5.8% |
| 2000s | −8K | 5.5% |
| 2010s | +183K | 6.2% |
| 2020s (partial) | +91K | 4.8% |
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