Employment changes little in October

Both the number of unemployed persons, 7.4 million, and the unemployment rate, 5.0 percent, were little changed in October, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The unemployment rate has ranged from 4.9 to 5.1 percent since May.

Total nonfarm payroll employment was little changed (+56,000) in October at 134.1 million. Employment growth was flat in September (-8,000, as revised), due in part to the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

In the first eight months of the year, payroll employment had increased by an average of 196,000 per month. In October, construction, financial activities, and health care added jobs, while employment in most other major industries showed little movement.

Over the month, construction employment increased by 33,000, with much of the gain (20,000) occurring in residential specialty trade contracting. Prior to October, construction employment had been expanding by an average of 21,000 per month in 2005. October's gain may partly reflect rebuilding and clean-up efforts following Hurricane Katrina. Mining continued to trend upward, adding 5,000 jobs over the month.

Manufacturing added 12,000 jobs in October. Employment in transportation equipment increased by 22,000, largely due to the return of 18,000 striking workers in the aerospace industry. This gain in transportation equipment employment was partly offset by job losses in computer and peripheral equipment (-2,000), electrical equipment and appliances (-3,000), and miscellaneous manufacturing (-4,000) in October.

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.8 hours in October, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek increased by 0.4 hour to 41.0 hours, and factory overtime was unchanged at 4.5 hours.

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