MNI BRIEF: US Oct Payrolls Beats At 531K, U-Rate Dips to 4.6%

U.S. payrolls rose by 531,000 in October, beating the market consensus, and the unemployment rate fell two-tenths to 4.6%, a fresh pandemic low, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Job gains were led by 164,000 in leisure and hospitality, 100,000 in professional and business services, 60,000 in manufacturing and 54,000 in transportation and warehousing. A positive 235,000 net revision for August and September payrolls added to the good news. Job gains have slowed since peaking at 1 million in June and July as the economy re-opened, and since then the issue has been barriers to returning to work such as a lack of childcare and fear of contracting Covid. Unemployment was 4.4% in March 2020 and a half-century low of 3.5% in February of that year.

The employment-to-population ratio in October remains 2.3 pp below where it was before the pandemic, and the participation rate was unchanged in October at 61.6%, 1.7 pp below the same benchmark. Hourly earnings were 4.9% higher in October than a year ago.