By Tom Burnett CFA
On November 4, 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the employment data for the month of October. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 261,000 in the month. The unemployment rate rose from 3.5% in September to 3.7% with the number of unemployed workers rising by 306,000 to 6.1 million. Total nonfarm employment is now at a record level of 153.3 million. At the bottom of the Covid-19 impact in March-April of 2020, the total employment number was 130.0 million.
The employment totals for August and September were revised upwards by a total of 29,000.
Manufacturing sectors added 32,000 jobs in October and manufacturing employment has increased by an average of 37,000 jobs per month in 2022.
Average hourly earnings for workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased to $32.58, up 4.7% from one year ago.
In a report issued on November 1, 2022, the BLS indicated that job openings rose to 10.7 million, up slightly from the year ago figure. This 10.7 million jobs available number is 75% higher than the latest unemployed workers figure of 6.1 million.
The next Employment Report will be issued on December 2, 2022.
Tom Burnett CFA is Director of Research