America woke up this morning to one more sign that the U.S. economy is not slowing down anytime soon as the country added 250,000 non-farm payroll jobs last month - exceeding most expectations.
The latest data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics did not change the country's unemployment rate, which stayed at 3.7 percent - a 49-year low. Job gains were broad based last month, mostly occurring in health care, manufacturing, construction, transportation and warehousing. The strong October report follows an average monthly gain of 211,000 over the prior 12 months.
Meanwhile, U.S. workers are starting to see increases in their paychecks - finally - with average hourly earnings rising 5 cents to $27.30 in private non-farm payrolls. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 83 cents, or 3.1 percent, refreshing growth after years of stagnant wages..
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.5 percent), adult women (3.4 percent), teenagers (11.9 percent), Whites (3.3 percent), Blacks (6.2 percent), Asians (3.2 percent), and Hispanics (4.4 percent) showed little or no change in October. The rate of unemployment for Hispanics is at an all-time low.
Following were some of the industries leading last month's robust job growth:
* Health care added 36,000 jobs. Within the industry, employment growth
occurred in hospitals (+13,000) and in nursing and residential care facilities
(+8,000). Employment in ambulatory health care services continued to trend up
(+14,000). Over the past 12 months, health care employment grew by 323,000.
* In October, employment in manufacturing increased by 32,000. Most of the increase
occurred in durable goods manufacturing, with a gain in transportation equipment
(+10,000). Manufacturing has added 296,000 jobs over the year, largely in durable
goods industries.
* Construction employment rose by 30,000 in October, with nearly half of the gain
occurring among residential specialty trade contractors (+14,000). Over the year,
construction has added 330,000 jobs.
* Transportation and warehousing added 25,000 jobs in October. Within the industry,
employment growth occurred in couriers and messengers (+8,000) and in warehousing
and storage (+8,000). Over the year, employment in transportation and warehousing
has increased by 184,000.
* Employment in leisure and hospitality edged up by 42,000 new jobs and professional and business services continued to trend up with 35,000 new jobs. Over the year, this industry, which covers most real estate agents and brokers, has added 516,000 jobs.
In one final positive note from today's BLS report, September's job reports was revised down from +134,000 to +118,000 new jobs, but the change for August was revised upwards by 16,000 to 286,000 overall net new jobs.