US nonfarm payrolls rise by 165,000 in October with +84,000 prior-month revisions as unemployment edges to 4.1%

AI-generated editorial illustration: a personnel folder on a stone slab, a medical case, a parcel box, a magnifying glass and brass weights represent service-sector job gains and part-time employment dynamics, not a real scene.

Professional services, health care and warehousing drive October hiring alongside an 84,000 net upward revision to August and September

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on November 6, 2026 (release USDL-26-1632) that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 165,000 in October 2026—well above the prior 12-month average gain of 48,000—while the headline unemployment rate (U-3) edged down by 0.1 percentage point from 4.2% to 4.1% (representing 7,068,000 unemployed persons). At the same time, August payroll growth was revised up by 53,000 from +133,000 to +186,000 and September was revised up by 31,000 from +29,000 to +60,000, adding a combined 84,000 jobs across the two months and lifting the three-month average payroll gain to 137,000.¹²

In the establishment survey (CES), total private payrolls expanded by 159,000 in October while government employment rose by 6,000. Job creation was concentrated in three service-providing industries: professional and business services added 70,000 jobs (compared with a 15,000 prior 12-month average, led by +33,000 in professional, scientific, and technical services and +18,600 in temporary help services); private education and health services rose by 53,000 (with health care alone adding 42,000, including +16,000 in hospitals and +11,000 in home health care); and transportation and warehousing gained 24,800 (rounded to 25,000 in the release text, led by +17,000 in couriers and messengers). Manufacturing payrolls increased by 19,000 (+25,000 in durable goods vs. -6,000 in nondurable goods), a monthly change that did not reach statistical significance.¹²

Average hourly earnings rise 0.4% to $38.00 while economic part-time employment climbs to 4.84 million

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by $0.14 (+0.4%) over the month to $38.00 in October and were up 3.1% over the year; average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by $0.12 (+0.4%) to $32.75. The average workweek for all private nonfarm employees remained unchanged at 34.4 hours, with manufacturing weekly hours steady at 40.5 hours (and factory overtime edging up 0.1 hour to 3.1 hours). In the household survey (CPS), the labor force participation rate ticked up 0.1 percentage point to 61.9% (as the civilian labor force grew by 421,000 to 170.68 million) and the employment-population ratio rose 0.1 percentage point to 59.3%. However, the number of persons employed part time for economic reasons rose by 339,000 in October to 4,840,000, and the long-term unemployed (jobless for 27 weeks or more) stood at 1,963,000, accounting for 27.6% of all unemployed individuals.¹²

Interpreting the October report requires distinguishing the two underlying surveys and their sampling error thresholds. The establishment survey (CES) samples roughly 119,000 businesses and government agencies covering 622,000 worksites, where the 90-percent confidence interval for a statistically significant monthly payroll change is approximately ±122,000 jobs; the household survey (CPS) samples about 60,000 eligible households, where the 90-percent confidence threshold for monthly employment change is roughly ±650,000, meaning the 0.1-point move in the unemployment rate to 4.1% is statistically classified as "changed little." Finally, Summary Table A notes that October 2025 household survey data were not collected due to the federal government shutdown, leaving a missing year-ago benchmark for household series.¹²

Source notes

1. 2026-11-06 · Employment Situation Summary - 2026 M10 Results · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. 2026-11-06 · The Employment Situation — October 2026 · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴