U.S. Job Growth is Up; Unemployment Rate at 3.7%

NATIONAL REPORT—The U.S. economy added 250,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate remained at 3.7%—a 49-year low, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job gains occurred in healthcare, in manufacturing, in construction, and in transportation and warehousing.

The number of unemployed persons was little changed at 6.1 million. Over the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons declined by 0.4 percentage point and 449,000, respectively.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.5%), adult women (3.4%), teenagers (11.9%), Whites (3.3%), Blacks (6.2%), Asians (3.2%) and Hispanics (4.4%) showed little or no change in October.

The number of long-term unemployed—those jobless for 27 weeks or more—was essentially unchanged at 1.4 million in October and accounted for 22.5% of the unemployed.

The labor force participation rate increased by 0.2 percentage point to 62.9% in October but has shown little change over the year. The employment-population ratio edged up by 0.2 percentage point to 60.6% in October and has increased by 0.4 percentage point over the year.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons—sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers—was essentially unchanged at 4.6 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.