The October jobs report was much weaker than expected, with employment growth in different industries painting a mixed picture for the U.S. economy.
The biggest contributor last month came from health care and social assistance, which added 51,300 jobs, according to data from the sector Bureau of Labor Statistics. If private education were included in the health care category, as some economists do, the growth in that category would be even greater, to 57,000.
The government sector had the second-highest growth during the period, with employment surging by 40,000 jobs. That’s close to the group’s average monthly gain of about 43,000 over the past 12 months.
At the same time, wholesale trade and construction also grew, with increases of 10,400 and 8,000 respectively.
However, other industries saw huge losses. Professional and business services led the decline, with a decline of 47,000. Manufacturing followed, with a decline of 46,000.
It is worth noting that Bureau of Labor Statistics The strike activity was cited as a driving factor in the decline in manufacturing. Boeing’s machinists’ strike has been going on for more than seven weeks. However, on Thursday, Boeing and the union agreed on a more favorable contract offer, which will be voted on Monday.
Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, said that while the report “largely” reflected the impact of strikes and storms such as Hurricanes Helen and Milton, it wasn’t necessarily a “blip in the pan.”
“This is very consistent with what we’ve seen over the past two years overall and the continued slowdown in the labor market,” she told CNBC. “The main issue in the labor market continues to be restrictive monetary policy rather than strikes and storms, which is actually That’s the consensus we’ve seen.”
The leisure and hotel industry led employment growth in the September report, while retail trade were two other key areas that declined. The former lost 4,000 jobs, while the latter lost even more, to 6,400.
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