Fra bls.gov
Household Survey Data
The unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage point to 3.7 percent in October, and the number
of unemployed persons rose by 306,000 to 6.1 million. The unemployment rate has been in a narrow
range of 3.5 percent to 3.7 percent since March. (See table A-1.)
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult women (3.4 percent) and Whites
(3.2 percent) rose in October. The jobless rates for adult men (3.3 percent), teenagers (11.0
percent), Blacks (5.9 percent), Asians (2.9 percent), and Hispanics (4.2 percent) showed little
or no change over the month. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
Among the unemployed, the number of permanent job losers changed little at 1.2 million in October,
and the number of persons on temporary layoff also changed little at 847,000. (See table A-11.)
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at
1.2 million in October. The long-term unemployed accounted for 19.5 percent of all unemployed
persons. (See table A-12.)
The labor force participation rate, at 62.2 percent, and the employment-population ratio, at
60.0 percent, were about unchanged in October and have shown little net change since early
this year. These measures are 1.2 percentage points below their values in February 2020, prior
to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. (See table A-1.)
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons was little changed at 3.7 million
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. (See table
A-8.)
The number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job was little changed at 5.7
million in October and remains above its February 2020 level of 5.0 million. 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. (See table A-1.)
Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of persons marginally attached
to the labor force was little changed in October at 1.5 million. 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, decreased by
114,000 to 371,000 in October. (See Summary table A.)
Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 261,000 in October. Monthly job growth has averaged
407,000 thus far in 2022, compared with 562,000 per month in 2021. In October, notable job gains
occurred in health care, professional and technical services, and manufacturing. (See table B-1.)
In October, employment in health care rose by 53,000, with gains in ambulatory health care services
(+31,000), nursing and residential care facilities (+11,000), and hospitals (+11,000). So far in
2022, health care employment has increased by an average of 47,000 per month, compared with 9,000
per month in 2021.
