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The Labor Department reported that nonfarm payrolls increased by 80,000 in
October after an upwardly revised gain of 104,000 in August and 158,000 in
September as the jobless rate fell from 9.1 percent to 9.0 percent.
While the October payrolls gain came in slightly
below consensus estimates, total upward revisions of 102,000 for the prior
two months helped to offset this disappointment, however, the U.S. labor
market continues to add jobs at a pace that is failing to keep up with the
growth in the population, payroll gains averaging just 90,000 over the last
six months and 123,000 so far this year.
The unemployment rate was little changed last month
and has now stayed within a narrow range of between 9.0 percent and 9.2
percent for the last seven months. The number of unemployed persons fell from
14.0 million in September to 13.9 million in October while the number of
long-term unemployed fell by 366,000 to 5.9 million, or 42.4 percent of total
unemployment.
The broader U6 measure of underemployment (including
discouraged workers and those settling for part-time work instead of
full-time work) fell from 16.5 percent to 16.2 percent and the civilian labor
force participation rate was steady at 64.2 percent.
Private sector payrolls increased by 104,000 in
October paced by gains of 35,000 in trade, transportation, & utilities
and 32,000 for professional & business services, almost half of which
were new temporary positions. Education & health care services added
28,000 jobs and there were 22,000 new positions in leisure & hospitality.
Some 20,000 fewer jobs at the state level paced an
overall decline of 24,000 in government payrolls and a net reduction of
22,500 in nonresidential construction jobs drove the construction category
sharply lower.
Overall, this report is consistent with the recent
“slow growth” performance of the U.S. economy where economic
activity is, basically, just keeping pace with population growth but nothing
more.
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