Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 638,000 jobs in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
The unemployment rate declined to 6.9%.
The jobs report showed the leisure and hospitality sector added 271,000 jobs in October, led by gains in food services and drinking places with 192,000 new jobs. The industry is still down 3.5 million jobs since February despite adding 4.8 million jobs since April.
Employment in retail trade added 104,000 jobs in October, and has risen by 1.9 million jobs since April, but is still down 499,000 jobs since February.
The construction industry also grew by 84,000 jobs in October. Construction employment has grown by 789,000 jobs in six months but is still 294,000 jobs short of its employment total since February.
Here's how economists and others reacted to the jobs report on Twitter.
The U.S. economy added 638,000 workers in October, slowing slightly from the gain of 672,000 in September but expanding for the sixth straight month. There continue to be 10,090,000 fewer nonfarm payrolls today than in February.
— Chad Moutray (@chadmoutray) November 6, 2020
+638K jobs, unemployment down to 6.9%, labor force participation up 0.2 percentage points
— Betsey Stevenson (@BetseyStevenson) November 6, 2020
Taken together it shows an economy continuing to improve, but the pace of improvement has clearly slowed.
Private sector employment picked up by 906k. Weakness in state & local government employment plus temp Census jobs going away pulled headline number down.
— Nick Bunker (@nick_bunker) November 6, 2020
Characterizing the economy:
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) November 6, 2020
1. It's in a deep hole
2. It used to be in a much deeper hole
3. So it's improving
4. But it's improving at a slow rate
5. And that slow rate isn't picking up
6. At least that slow rate of improvement isn't slowing
7. But rising covid could change that
As winter approaches and COVID-19 cases continue to rise, millions of people across the country will be left out in the cold. Unlike his predecessor, the incoming Biden administration will inherit a devastated labor market that will need considerable relief and stimulus—quickly.
— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) November 6, 2020
From the jobs report, the BLS measure of the % working remotely due to the pandemic remains very high at 21.2% pic.twitter.com/MMXGYWqCOS
— Adam Ozimek (@ModeledBehavior) November 6, 2020
Immediately noteworthy in today's @BLS_gov #JobsReport is that the female #unemployment rate has dipped below male for the first time during this pandemic (6.7% vs. 7.0%, for age 16+, seasonally adjusted). Women are managing to stay employed even while the kids are home.
— Diane Lim (@economistmom) November 6, 2020
Where the US gained back jobs in October:
— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) November 6, 2020
Restaurants: +192,000
Business: +208,000 -->half those jobs were temp jobs
Retail: +104,000
Construction +84,000
Healthcare +79,000
Warehouse: +63,000
Manufacturing: +38,000
Government employment: -268,000 --> ~half were Census workers
Leisure & hospitality employment continues to be *well* below pre-pandemic levels pic.twitter.com/Qf8e7oJUOa
— Nick Bunker (@nick_bunker) November 6, 2020
This whole thing looks like it could get crushed by a COVID-shaped feather
— Michael Madowitz (@mikemadowitz) November 6, 2020
Liesure, hospitality & retail = 59% of job gains
(48% if you net out census)
Totally unsustainable at 120K cases a day https://t.co/Z7rw96GpVS
Maybe the most succinct summary for today's #JobsReport is that I didn't expect to be on the wrong side of this bet:https://t.co/ffLwSXl28X#JobsDay 9/9
— Daniel Zhao (@DanielBZhao) November 6, 2020
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