BLS Jobs Report: 271000 Jobs Added, Unemployment at 5 Percent

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen turned heads earlier this week when she reiterated that December’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting was very much “live” for a potential interest rate liftoff. Each month highlight the latest numbers we need to know (see also: What Christians Should Know About Unemployment).

Total non-farm employment increased by 271,000 during the month of October with seasonal adjustment, but increased by 1,152,000 during the month of October without seasonal adjustment.

Professional and business services added a net 78,000 jobs in October, while health care payrolls increased 45,000 and employment in retail trades rose 44,000. Transportation and warehousing was close behind with 43,800 followed by construction, where staff levels improved by 31,000.

Friday’s report from the government suggested that the US economy is rebounding after a worrisome summer and is continuing to outshine most other major economies. Those gains also included almost 25,000 temporary jobs.

“The report is pretty good across the board”.

The unemployment rate dipped to a fresh seven-year low of 5 percent from 5.1 percent.

Persons employed part time for economic reasons: individuals who would have preferred full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

The airline industry gained 2,000 jobs in October, going from 452,700 in September to 454,700 last month.

It’s the biggest one-month jobs gain in all of 2015, according to Bloomberg News, which adds that the strong result is one of the positive signs the Fed’s economists “are looking for as they consider a year-end boost in borrowing costs”. Now, reports are released monthly.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 2.1 million in October and has shown little change since June. That’s up just slightly from the 10.4 percent rate reported the month prior.

A rate of five percent unemployment is generally considered by economists to indicate full employment across the board.

Teenagers, older workers and recent veterans benefited from a stellar US job market in October.