US Adds 165,000 Jobs in October as Unemployment Falls to 4.1%

The US economy added 165,000 jobs in October and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%. That is according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the US government’s labor statistics agency, in the report released on Friday.¹² The figure is well above forecasts: economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal expected 59,000 additional jobs and unemployment holding at 4.2%.¹³

The Numbers in the October Report

The figure refers to nonfarm payrolls, that is, employment of wage and salary workers outside the agricultural sector. According to Bloomberg, it beat every forecast.⁴² The BLS also revised the previous two months. August went from 133,000 to 186,000 jobs, and September from 29,000 to 60,000.¹³ The labor force participation rate rose from 61.8% in September to 61.9%.¹

Where the Jobs Were Created

Employment grew in professional and business services, health care, and transportation and warehousing. The first two sectors added 70,000 and 42,000 jobs respectively, more than their monthly average over the past year.¹² Manufacturing added 19,000 jobs. Since its recent low in December 2025, the sector has gained 101,000, according to the BLS.¹ The number of part-time workers for economic reasons, that is, people who would like a full-time job and can’t find one, rose by 339,000 to 4.8 million.¹⁵

Wages and Inflation

Average hourly earnings rose by 14 cents in a month to $38, an increase of 3.1% from October 2025. On a monthly basis, growth was 0.4%, against the 0.3% expected, and annual growth exceeded the 2.9% forecast. The average workweek held at 34.4 hours.¹³ September inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), was 3.7%, the seventh month in a row above 3%. The rise in fuel prices linked to the war in Iran weighed on households, The Hill reports.¹ Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote that inflation has been erasing wage gains for seven months. Erin McLaughlin, of the Conference Board, observed that the economy is close to full employment but that pay may not keep pace with prices.¹ The BLS will publish the October CPI data on Tuesday. The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland estimates annual inflation at 3.7%.¹

What It Means for the Federal Reserve

In September the Fed raised interest rates for the first time since the summer of 2023. Last week the Federal Open Market Committee, the body that sets interest rates, left them between 3.75% and 4%.¹³ According to the CME FedWatch tool, on Friday markets were pricing in a 73% probability of another quarter-point hike at the meeting in early December.¹

What Changes

The August and September revisions indicate that the labor market was stronger than it appeared in the first reports. The October figure reinforces this reading, not least because companies kept hiring despite tariffs, the war in Iran and uncertainty over artificial intelligence.¹³ The picture remains less straightforward for workers. Involuntary part-time workers increased, and according to La Vanguardia, job seekers, including recent graduates, find limited opportunities.¹³⁵ The October CPI, due on Tuesday, will show whether prices continue to outpace wages. A strong labor market and persistent inflation are the combination that, according to market pricing, leads traders to bet on another rate hike in December.¹

This article was written by artificial intelligence from the sources cited, without human review. Automatic newsroom by Redazia.

Sources

Footnotes

1. US economy added 165,000 jobs in October, beating expectations, The Hill, 2026-11-06 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶

2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, bls.gov ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Estados Unidos crea 165.000 empleos en octubre, cifra muy por encima de la esperada, La Vanguardia, 2026-11-06 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

4. US Job Growth Surged in October, Unemployment Rate Fell, Bloomberg · Markets, 2026-11-06 ↩

5. October Saw Better-Than-Expected Job Growth—But 339,000 More People Are Working Part-Time Who Wanted Full-Time Roles, Forbes · Business, 2026-11-06 ↩ ↩²