As we reach the winter months, most job seekers are hopeful for new beginnings and opportunities as the holiday season is in full swing. Learn more about employment expectations for the new season based on data from our latest employment summary. Staff Solve strives to assist employers and job seekers with information and process hiring, but the overall economic picture of employment trends in the United States and possible factors involved.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 150,000 in October, and the unemployment rate increased a little to 3.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in health care, government, and social assistance.

Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.7 percent, and the employment-population ratio, at 60.2 percent, changed a little in October. The number of persons employed part-time for economic reasons, at 4.3 million, changed little in October. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part-time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.

The number of persons employed part-time for economic reasons, at 4.3 million, changed little in October. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part-time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs. Employers are often more willing to hire part-time workers because it involves less commitment and risk than hiring full-time employees. Part-time employees may not receive the same benefits (like health insurance or retirement plans) as full-time employees, which can make part-time positions more attractive for employers to cut costs.

In October, the number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job was  5.4 million, a little different from the prior month. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job.

Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of persons marginally attached to the labor force changed a little to 1.4 million in October. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, also changed a little over the month to 416,000.

Construction employment continued to trend up in October (+23,000), in line with the average monthly gain of 18,000 in the prior 12 months. Employment continued to trend up over the month in specialty trade contractors (+14,000) and construction of buildings (+6,000).

Employment in professional and business services changed little in July (+15,000) ​​and

has shown little net change since May. Monthly job growth in the industry had averaged 38,000 in the prior 12 months. Employment in temporary help services changed little

over the month (+7,000) but is 229,000 below its peak in March 2022.

Over the month, employment showed little change in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; wholesale trade; retail trade; financial activities; and other services.

In July, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 7 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $34.00. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 4.1 percent. In October, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 10 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $29.19. The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hours to 34.3 hours in October, and overtime edged down by 0.1 hours to 2.9 hours.  The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hours to 33.7 hours.

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for August was revised down by 62,000, from +227,000 to +165,000 and the change for September was revised down by 39,000, from +336,000 to +297,000. With these revisions, employment in August and September combined is 101,000 lower than previously reported.

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