Continuing the trend for the week the nonfarm payroll report beat expectations in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 261,000 in October, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.7%.
- Economists had projected a smaller 200k job increase for the month.
Health Care. The Health care industry took the gold medal in October adding 53,000 new jobs thanks to a 31k increase in ambulatory services and nursing & hospitals both added 11k.
- Professional and technical services took the number two spot with 43k new jobs in October followed by leisure & hospitality (+35k) manufacturing (+32k), and social assistance (+19k).
Participation. The one big negative in the report was the decline in Prime working-age employment falling to 79.8%, the lowest since February.
Wages. Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 12 cents, or 0.4%, to $32.58. On a year-over-year basis wages are up 4.7% which is lagging inflation with the CPI up 8.2% in September and unlikely to fall much in October.
Revisions. August’s payrolls were revised downward by 23,000 to 292,000, and September was revised upward by 52,000 to 315,000. A 29,000 increase for the previous two months.