October Jobs Report: US Adds 165,000 Jobs, Unemployment at 4.1%
October jobs report: US payrolls rose 165,000, nearly triple forecasts, with unemployment at 4.1%, keeping a December Fed rate hike firmly in play.
US employers added 165,000 jobs in October, nearly three times economists’ forecasts, according to the October jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday, 6 November, while the US unemployment rate was 4.1%, little changed from September.
The report also revised hiring for the previous two months up by a combined 84,000. The data reinforced expectations of another Federal Reserve rate hike when policymakers meet on 8–9 December, Yahoo Finance reported.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected nonfarm payrolls to rise by 59,000. About 7.1 million people were unemployed, and the BLS said the jobless rate “changed little” over the month.
Where the October jobs report shows hiring
Professional and business services led the gains with 70,000 jobs, followed by health care at 42,000. Transportation and warehousing added 25,000, including 17,000 in couriers and messengers, while manufacturing rose by 19,000.
Government, retail trade, information, leisure and hospitality, and construction showed little change over the month, according to the BLS release.
The revisions were large. August’s figure was raised to 186,000 from 133,000, and September’s to 60,000 from an initial 29,000, softening the earlier impression of a stalling labour market.
Over the past three months, job growth has averaged 137,000 a month, compared with 48,000 a month over the prior 12 months, according to The National News Desk. “The economy is doing well – it is growing at 3.4%,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management.
Wages, inflation and the Fed rate hike debate
Average hourly earnings rose 14 cents, or 0.4%, to $38.00 and were up 3.1% from a year earlier. With consumer prices rising at a 3.7% annual rate in September, as reported by The National News Desk, pay gains are still trailing inflation.
Labour force participation was 61.9%, and the employment-population ratio was 59.3%. The number of people working part time for economic reasons rose by 339,000 to 4.8 million, one of the weaker spots in the report.
The average workweek was unchanged at 34.4 hours. Long-term unemployed people, those jobless for 27 weeks or more, numbered 2.0 million, or 27.6% of all unemployed. Federal government employment slipped by 1,000 and is 333,000 below its level at the start of 2025, The National News Desk reported.
Also Read: US Wholesale Prices Jump 6.3%, Raising Odds of Another Fed Hike | Bessent Pushes Growth Case as Fed Faces PCE, Jobs Data Test
The Fed raised rates by a quarter point on 16 September, its first hike since 2023, and held its target range at 3.75%–4.00% on 28 October. Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack dissented at that meeting, voting for a quarter-point increase.
In the Fed’s September projections, 16 of 18 officials saw at least one more quarter-point hike by the end of 2026. At his 28 October press conference, Chair Kevin Warsh noted that “payroll growth is noticeably above last year’s pace,” according to Stock Titan. October’s print and the upward revisions extend that trend.
Bond markets reacted calmly, with the 10-year Treasury yield rising only a few basis points after the release to around 4.86%. Freddie Mac’s 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 7.18% in its 5 November survey, down from 7.24%, keeping home loans expensive for buyers.
India angle and what comes next
For India, a Fed that keeps tightening tends to hold US yields high, which can weigh on foreign portfolio flows into emerging markets and on the rupee. It can also raise costs for Indian companies that borrow in dollars. Indian IT services firms, which earn a large part of their revenue from US clients, also watch American hiring and demand closely.
So far, flows have held up. Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of more than ₹13,800 crore of Indian shares on Thursday, the day Wall Street sold off sharply, according to provisional exchange data, and kept buying on Friday.
The next test after the October jobs report is October consumer price data, due on Tuesday, 10 November, ahead of the Fed’s December meeting. The November jobs report will be released on 4 December, giving policymakers one more labour market reading before they decide.
