Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until 

8:30 a.m. (ET) Friday, November 5, 2021. 

Statement of

William W. Beach

Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, November 5, 2021

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 531,000 in October, and 

the unemployment rate edged down by 0.2 percentage point to 4.6

percent. Job growth was widespread, with notable job gains in 

leisure and hospitality, in professional and business services, 

in manufacturing, and in transportation and warehousing. 

Employment declined in public education over the month. 

Incorporating revisions for August and September, which 

increased nonfarm payroll employment by 235,000, job growth has 

averaged 582,000 per month thus far in 2021. Since April 2020, 

employment has increased by 18.2 million but is down by 4.2

million, or 2.8 percent, from its level before the onset of the 

coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in February 2020. 

Employment in leisure and hospitality rose by 164,000 in 

October, with gains in food services and drinking places 

(+119,000) and accommodation (+23,000). Employment in leisure 
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and hospitality is down by 1.4 million, or 8.2 percent, from

February 2020.

Employment in professional and business services rose by 

100,000 in October. Employment in the professional and technical 

services component rose by 45,000 over the month and is 298,000

higher than in February 2020. Within professional and technical 

services, management and technical consulting services

(+14,000), other professional and technical services (+9,000), 

scientific research and development services (+6,000), and legal 

services (+5,000) added jobs in October. Employment in the 

administrative and waste services component rose by 49,000 over 

the month, with most of the gain in temporary help services

(+41,000). Employment in administrative and waste services is 

434,000 lower than in February 2020.

Manufacturing added 60,000 jobs in October, with gains in 

motor vehicles and parts (+28,000), fabricated metal products 

(+6,000), chemicals (+6,000), and printing and related support 

activities (+4,000). Since February 2020, employment in 

manufacturing is down by 270,000.

Employment in transportation and warehousing increased by

54,000 in October and is 149,000 above its February 2020 level. 

In October, job growth occurred in warehousing and storage 

(+20,000), transit and ground passenger transportation

(+16,000), air transportation (+9,000), and truck transportation 
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(+8,000). Employment in couriers and messengers fell by 5,000 

over the month but is 172,000 above its February 2020 level. 

In October, construction added 44,000 jobs, with gains in 

nonresidential specialty trade contractors (+19,000) and in 

heavy and civil engineering construction (+12,000). Employment 

in construction is 150,000 lower than in February 2020.

Employment in health care increased by 37,000 in October

but is 460,000 lower than in February 2020. In October, home 

health care services added 16,000 jobs. Employment in nursing 

care facilities increased by 12,000 over the month but is down 

by 225,000, or 14.2 percent, since February 2020. 

Employment in retail trade rose by 35,000 in October but is 

down by 140,000 since February 2020. In October, job gains 

occurred in food and beverage stores (+16,000), general 

merchandise stores (+15,000), health and personal care stores 

(+8,000), and electronics and appliance stores (+6,000). 

Building material and garden supply stores lost jobs (-10,000). 

Employment in the other services industry increased by 

33,000 in October, with most of the gain in personal and laundry 

services (+28,000). Since February 2020, employment in other 

services is down by 169,000.

Employment in financial activities rose by 21,000 in 

October and has returned to its February 2020 level. Over the 

month, job gains occurred in real estate and rental and leasing 
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(+12,000) and in securities, commodity contracts, and 

investments (+11,000). Commercial banking employment declined by 

4,000 in October. 

Employment in wholesale trade increased by 14,000 in 

October, with all of the gain in the durable goods component. 

Wholesale trade employment is 158,000 lower than in February 

2020. 

Mining employment continued to trend up in October 

(+5,000). Employment in the industry is down by 87,000 from a 

peak in January 2019. 

In October, employment decreased by 43,000 in local 

government education and by 22,000 in state government 

education. Employment changed little in private education 

(+17,000). Recent employment changes in public and private 

education are challenging to interpret, as pandemic-related 

staffing fluctuations have distorted the normal seasonal hiring 

and layoff patterns. Since February 2020, employment is down by 

370,000 in local government education, by 205,000 in state 

government education, and by 148,000 in private education.

Employment in information changed little in October 

(+10,000) and is 122,000 lower than in February 2020. 

In October, the average workweek for all private-sector 

workers fell by 0.1 hour to 34.7 hours. The average workweek for 

manufacturing edged down by 0.1 hour to 40.3 hours. 
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Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls increased by 11 cents to $30.96 in October, following 

large increases in the prior 6 months. Over the past 12 months, 

average hourly earnings have increased by 4.9 percent. 

Turning to the labor market indicators from the household 

survey, the unemployment rate edged down by 0.2 percentage point 

to 4.6 percent in October. The number of unemployed people, at

7.4 million, continued to trend down. These measures are down 

from their April 2020 peaks but remain above their February 2020 

levels (3.5 percent and 5.7 million, respectively). 

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for 

adult men (4.3 percent) decreased in October. The jobless rates 

for adult women (4.4 percent), teenagers (11.9 percent), Whites 

(4.0 percent), Blacks (7.9 percent), Asians (4.2 percent), and 

Hispanics (5.9 percent) showed little or no change over the 

month. 

Among the unemployed, the number of permanent job losers, 

at 2.1 million, changed little in October but is 828,000 higher 

than in February 2020. The number of people on temporary layoff 

was little changed at 1.1 million in October. This measure is 

down considerably from a high of 18.0 million in April 2020 but 

is 306,000 higher than in February 2020. 

The number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or more (often 

referred to as the long-term unemployed) continued to decrease
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in October, falling by 357,000 to 2.3 million. This measure is

about double its February 2020 level. In October, the long-term 

unemployed accounted for 31.6 percent of the total unemployed. 

The number of people unemployed for less than 5 weeks, at 2.1

million, was little changed over the month. 

The labor force participation rate, at 61.6 percent, was 

unchanged in October and has remained within a narrow range of 

61.4 percent to 61.7 percent since June 2020. This measure is 

1.7 percentage points lower than in February 2020. The 

employment-population ratio, at 58.8 percent, changed little in 

October and is 2.3 percentage points lower than in February 

2020. 

In October, 4.4 million people were working part time for 

economic reasons, little changed from the prior month. The 

number of people working part time for economic reasons is down 

from a peak of 10.9 million in April 2020 and has essentially 

returned to its February 2020 level. 

The number of people not in the labor force who currently 

want a job was essentially unchanged at 6.0 million in October. 

This measure is down from a peak of 9.9 million in April 2020 

but remains higher than the level of 5.0 million in February 

2020. Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the 

number of people marginally attached to the labor force was 

little changed in October at 1.7 million. (People who are 
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marginally attached to the labor force had not actively looked 

for work in the 4 weeks prior to the survey but wanted a job, 

were available for work, and had looked for a job within the 

last 12 months.) The number of discouraged workers, a subset of 

the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available 

for them, was essentially unchanged in October at 455,000. 

As in previous months, some workers affected by the 

pandemic who should have been classified as unemployed on 

temporary layoff in October were instead misclassified as 

employed but not at work. Since March 2020, BLS has published an 

estimate of what the unemployment rate would have been had 

misclassified workers been included among the unemployed. 

Repeating this same approach, the seasonally adjusted October

unemployment rate would have been 0.1 percentage point higher 

than reported. Additional information--including more detail

about the misclassification, response rates for both the 

household and establishment surveys, and the establishment 

survey’s return to the pre-pandemic birth-death methodology--is 

available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/covid19/employmentsituation-covid19-faq-october-2021.htm. 

Looking at supplemental pandemic-related measures from the 

household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally 

adjusted), the share of employed people who teleworked in 

October because of the coronavirus pandemic was 11.6 percent, 
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down from 13.2 percent in September. These data refer only to 

employed people who teleworked or worked from home for pay at 

some point in the last 4 weeks specifically because of the 

pandemic; they do not include all instances of telework. 

In October, the number of people who reported that they had 

been unable to work because their employer closed or lost 

business due to the pandemic--that is, they did not work at all 

or worked fewer hours at some point in the last 4 weeks due to 

the pandemic--decreased by 1.2 million to 3.8 million. Among 

those who reported in October that they were unable to work 

because of pandemic-related closures or lost business, 13.3

percent received at least some pay from their employer for the 

hours not worked, little changed over the month. 

Among those not in the labor force in October, 1.3 million 

people were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic, 

down by 338,000 from September. (To be counted as unemployed, by 

definition, individuals must either be actively searching for 

work or on temporary layoff.) 

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 531,000 in 

October, and the unemployment rate edged down to 4.6 percent.