October jobs report shows 165,000 payroll gain and 4.1% unemployment

The October jobs report 2026 is no longer pending: the US added 165,000 nonfarm jobs in the month and the unemployment rate was 4.1%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on November 6. The payroll gain was well above the 59,000 increase forecast in the Dow Jones consensus reported before the release, while unemployment came in below the expected 4.2%.

The report also lifted estimates for the previous two months. August payroll growth was revised to 186,000 from 133,000, and September’s figure was raised to 60,000 from 29,000. Together, the revisions added 84,000 jobs to the previously reported level of employment, according to the BLS.

October’s initial payroll estimate was greater than the average monthly gain of 48,000 over the preceding 12 months. The BLS said the unemployment rate has remained between 4.1% and 4.3% since March. The number of unemployed people was little changed at 7.1m.

What did the October jobs report show?

Professional and business services led the October increase, adding 70,000 jobs. Health care added 42,000 positions, transportation and warehousing gained 25,000, and manufacturing added 19,000, the BLS said. Employment showed little change across several other major industries, including construction, wholesale trade, retail, information, financial activities, leisure and hospitality and government.

Average hourly earnings for private nonfarm employees rose by 14 cents, or 0.4%, to $38.00 in October. They were 3.1% higher than a year earlier. The average private-sector workweek was unchanged at 34.4 hours.

The release combines results from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures labour-force status, including unemployment, while the establishment survey tracks nonfarm employment, hours and earnings by industry. This means the payroll and unemployment figures are produced from different surveys.

On the household-survey side, the labour-force participation rate was 61.9% and the employment-population ratio was 59.3%, both little changed during October. The number of people working part time for economic reasons rose by 339,000 to 4.8m. The BLS said these workers preferred full-time jobs but had reduced hours or could not find full-time work.

Long-term unemployment, defined by the BLS as joblessness lasting 27 weeks or more, was 2m and accounted for 27.6% of unemployed people. The agency said that total was little changed from September.

Why could the October payroll number change?

The October payroll reading is preliminary. The BLS revises initial establishment-survey estimates twice over the following two months as additional survey responses arrive and seasonal adjustment factors are recalculated. The November employment report is scheduled for December 4 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.