U.S. payroll employment sitting pretty in October
For those of you who are unaware, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its employment situation report for the month of October this morning. If you’re really interested in the current job market, this is where you leave me to go read the report yourself. But based on the fact that it’s a Friday afternoon, and my assumption that most of you don’t feel like sifting through the information yourself, I’m here to offer you a brief (yet insightful) summary of the report’s findings…
First up is the big number, and that’s how many new jobs were created in October. According to the BLS, our country generated a total of 166,000 new positions last month. That’s impressive, especially based on the slumping real estate and credit markets and the totals that we’ve been posting lately. (Think 93,000 new jobs in August, which was initially reported as -4,000, and 96,000 additional positions in September.)
All of the other major categories stayed about the same. The national unemployment rate still stands at 4.7 percent, and total employment in the U.S. continues to sit above the 146.0 million mark. The labor force participation rate for last month, at 65.9 percent, was unchanged from September. In typical fashion, service-providing industries were responsible for most of the job growth in October, while goods-producing industries were responsible for many of the job losses.
The health care sector added 34,000 positions last month, food services and drinking places added 37,000, and professional and business services added 65,000 jobs. According to my best estimate, this latter number is why there is such a big difference between October’s job growth versus the payroll growth in July, August, and September. I look at enough BLS reports to know that professional and business services have been adding around 20,000 to 30,000 jobs a month. But positions in employment services went way down in September, so its recovery in October (with +34,000 positions) is what helped the industry as a whole net 65,000 new jobs.
Some of the biggest losses this past month came in manufacturing. The industry lost 21,000 jobs overall in October. Construction businesses only lost 5,000 jobs last month, which is most likely another reason why we were able to increase payroll employment by over 160,000 positions. During the summer months, losses in the construction sector were offsetting gains in other areas. In fact, the weakening housing and real estate markets have been putting a strain on this industry for awhile now, with the U.S. losing a total of 124,000 construction jobs since September of last year.
The average workweek for Americans remained unchanged in October at 33.8 hours. Average hourly earnings increased by three cents to $17.58, and weekly earnings rose 0.2 percent to $594.20.
And that’s about all that this BLS report yielded in terms of significant information. If you are frequenting this blog for career advice, I strongly suggest pursuing work in one of the many health care professions out there today. You may not read the employment situation report every month, but I do, and this industry has been showing solid job growth for a long time now.
If this summary helped you grasp the findings of October’s BLS report a little better, or you just enjoy someone else doing the work for you, be sure to visit the OnlineCareerGuide.com Blog again. I plan to rehash all of the BLS employment situation reports when they’re released on the first Friday of every month. I know, I know, it’s an exciting life I lead…