The U.S. economy added a solid 531,000 jobs in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Friday, a huge hiring rebound and promising sign of economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 delta variant surge.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.6% from 4.8% the month prior.
Notable industries which gained jobs include leisure and hospitality (+164,000 jobs), professional and business services (+100,000 jobs), manufacturing (+60,000 jobs) and construction (+44,000 jobs). Health care also saw gains of 37,000 jobs, mostly in home health care services (+16,000 jobs) and nursing care facilities (+12,000 jobs).
Industries that saw losses included local government education (-43,000 jobs) and state government education (-22,000 jobs).
Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 11 cents in OCtober to $30.96, following six months of increases, according to the BLS.
Friday’s report also revised the September and August jobs reports, revealing higher jobs figures than were initially reported: August’s report was revised up 117,000, from 366,000 to 483,000 jobs; September’s report, which was considered “disappointing” by many analysts and experts at the time, was revised up by 118,000, from 194,000 to 312,000 jobs.
All told, the economy added 235,000 over those two months than previously reported.
The October report comes one day after weekly unemployment claims fell for the fifth straight week, dropping to another pandemic low of 269,000 for the week ending in Oct. 30.
President Joe Biden will deliver remarks on the jobs report later Friday morning from the White House.
This is a developing story. Check back later for further updates.
