The U.S. labor market came roaring back in October after September’s initial estimated gain of 29,000 new jobs with a reported increase of 165,000 jobs for the month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Revisions to the August and September numbers boosted previous estimates by a combined 84,000 additional jobs, bringing the year-to-date total through October to 861,000 jobs gained compared to 116,000 total jobs added in all of 2025. Industry gains were led by Professional/Business Services (+70,000 jobs), Education/Health Services (+53,000 jobs), Trade/Transportation/Utilities (+22,000 jobs), and Manufacturing (+19,000 jobs). Particularly strong subsectors include temp services, management and consulting, social assistance, hospitals, couriers and messengers, warehouse clubs, and computer and electronic manufacturing. The remaining industries experienced modest gains or moderate shortfalls. Losses were especially deep in Leisure/Hospitality Services (-13,000 jobs) with much of that decline in food services and drinking places (-7,200 jobs). Meanwhile, the U3 seasonally adjusted headline unemployment rate (from the survey of households) decreased slightly to 4.1% in October, remaining in a narrow range of 4.1% to 4.3% since March.
This post is part of a series analyzing employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For more on this data, read previous posts on Job Growth.
