Advance copies of this statement are made available to the press 

under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that 

the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Statement of 

William W. Beach 

Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, November 1, 2019

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 128,000 in 

October, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 3.6 

percent. Notable employment gains occurred in food services and 

drinking places, social assistance, and financial activities. 

Within manufacturing, employment declined in motor vehicles and 

parts due to strike activity. Federal government employment was 

down, reflecting a drop in the number of temporary jobs for the 

2020 Census. 

Incorporating revisions for August and September, which 

increased nonfarm payroll employment by 95,000, monthly job 

gains have averaged 176,000 over the past 3 months. Job growth 

has averaged 167,000 per month thus far in 2019, compared with 

an average gain of 223,000 per month in 2018.

Employment in food services and drinking places rose by 

48,000 over the month. Monthly job growth in the industry has
2

averaged 38,000 over the past 3 months, compared with an average 

monthly gain of 16,000 in the first 7 months of 2019.

Social assistance added 20,000 jobs in October, with most

of the gain occurring in individual and family services

(+17,000). Over the past 12 months, employment in social 

assistance has increased by 139,000.

In October, financial activities added 16,000 jobs. Within 

the industry, employment increased in real estate and rental and 

leasing (+10,000) and in credit intermediation and related 

activities (+6,000).

Over the month, employment continued to trend up in 

professional and business services (+22,000) and in health care 

(+15,000).

Manufacturing employment declined by 36,000 in October. 

Employment in motor vehicles and parts manufacturing decreased

by 42,000, reflecting strike activity.

Within government, federal employment declined in October 

(-17,000), as 20,000 temporary workers who had been preparing

for the 2020 Census completed their work.

In October, employment changed little in other major 

industries--including mining, construction, wholesale trade, 

retail trade, transportation and warehousing, and information.

 Average hourly earnings of all employees on private 

nonfarm payrolls rose by 6 cents in October to $28.18, following 
3

little change (+1 cent) in September. Over the past 12 months, 

average hourly earnings have risen by 3.0 percent; the over-theyear percent change has been 3.0 percent or above for 15 

consecutive months. From September 2018 to September 2019, the 

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 

by 1.7 percent (on a seasonally adjusted basis).

Turning to measures from the survey of households, the 

unemployment rate, at 3.6 percent, was little changed in 

October. The number of unemployed people, 5.9 million, also 

changed little over the month.

Among the unemployed, the number of people searching for 

work for 27 weeks or more was essentially unchanged at 1.3 

million in October. These long-term unemployed accounted for 

21.5 percent of the unemployed.

The labor force participation rate, at 63.3 percent, was 

about unchanged in October. The employment-population ratio

remained at 61.0 percent over the month. Both measures were up

by 0.4 percentage point over the year.

In October, 4.4 million people were working part time for 

economic reasons (also referred to as involuntary part-time 

workers), little changed from the previous month.

Among those neither working nor looking for work in 

October, 1.2 million were considered marginally attached to the 

labor force, down by 262,000 from a year earlier. (People who 
4

are marginally attached to the labor force had not 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.) Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally 

attached who believed no jobs were available for them, numbered 

341,000 in October, down by 165,000 from a year earlier.

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 128,000 in 

October, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 3.6 

percent.