Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until 

8:30 a.m. (ET) Friday, November 4, 2022.

Statement of

William W. Beach

Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, November 4, 2022

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 261,000 in October, 

and the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent. Notable job gains

occurred in health care, professional and technical services, 

and manufacturing. Monthly job growth has averaged 407,000 thus 

far in 2022, compared with 562,000 per month in 2021.

Health care added 53,000 jobs in October, with growth 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.

In October, professional and technical services added 

43,000 jobs. Employment continued to trend up in management and 

technical consulting services (+7,000), architectural and 

engineering services (+7,000), and scientific research and 

development services (+5,000). Job growth in professional and 
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technical services has averaged 41,000 per month thus far in 

2022, compared with 53,000 per month in 2021.

Employment in manufacturing rose by 32,000 in October, with 

most of the gain in durable goods industries (+23,000).

Employment in manufacturing has increased by an average of 

37,000 per month thus far this year, compared with 30,000 per 

month in 2021.

In October, social assistance added 19,000 jobs, as 

employment in individual and family services continued to trend 

up (+10,000). Social assistance has added 199,000 jobs over the 

past 12 months, and employment in the industry is slightly below 

(-9,000) its pre-pandemic level in February 2020.

Employment in wholesale trade rose by 15,000 in October. 

Employment in the industry has increased by an average of 17,000 

per month thus far in 2022, compared with 13,000 per month in 

2021.

Employment in leisure and hospitality continued to trend up 

in October (+35,000), with accommodation adding 20,000 jobs.

Employment in food services and drinking places changed little

over the month (+6,000). Leisure and hospitality has added an

average of 78,000 jobs per month thus far this year, less than 

half of the average gain of 196,000 jobs per month in 2021. 

Employment in leisure and hospitality is down by 1.1 million, or 

6.5 percent, from its February 2020 level.
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In October, employment changed little in transportation and 

warehousing (+8,000). Job gains in truck transportation

(+13,000), couriers and messengers (+7,000), and air 

transportation (+4,000) were partially offset by a job loss in 

warehousing and storage (-20,000). Monthly job growth in 

transportation and warehousing has averaged 25,000 so far in 

2022, compared with 36,000 per month in 2021.

In October, employment in financial activities changed 

little (+3,000). Within the industry, job gains in insurance 

carriers and related activities (+9,000) and in securities, 

commodity contracts, and investments (+5,000) more than offset a 

job loss in rental and leasing services (-8,000). Employment in 

financial activities has changed little over the past 6 months.

Employment showed little change over the month in other 

major industries, including mining, construction, retail trade, 

information, other services, and government.

In October, the average workweek for all private-sector 

workers was 34.5 hours for the fifth month in a row. The average 

workweek for manufacturing was little changed at 40.4 hours.

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls increased by 12 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $32.58 in 

October. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have 

increased by 4.7 percent.
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Turning to the labor market indicators from the household 

survey, the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage point to 

3.7 percent in October, and the number of unemployed people

increased by 306,000 to 6.1 million. The unemployment rate has

been in the narrow range of 3.5 percent to 3.7 percent since 

March.

In October, the unemployment rates for adult women (3.4

percent) and Whites (3.2 percent) rose. 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.

Among the unemployed, the number of permanent job losers

changed little at 1.2 million in October.

By duration of unemployment, the number of people 

unemployed for 27 weeks or more was little changed at 1.2

million in October. These long-term unemployed accounted for 

19.5 percent of all unemployed people.

The labor force participation rate, at 62.2 percent, and 

the employment-population ratio, at 60.0 percent, were about

unchanged in October. Both measures have shown little net change 

since early this year and are 1.2 percentage points below their 

values in February 2020.

In October, the number of people working part time for 

economic reasons changed little at 3.7 million.
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The number of people not in the labor force who currently 

want a job was little changed at 5.7 million in October. This 

measure remains above its February 2020 level of 5.0 million.

Among those who were not in the labor force but wanted a 

job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor 

force, at 1.5 million, was little changed in October. (People 

who are 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, fell by 114,000 to 371,000 in October.

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 261,000 

in October, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent.