U.S. Payrolls Added 171,000 Jobs in October

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly employment situation press release, national payrolls rose by 171,000 over the month. Employment growth has averaged 157,000 per month thus far in 2012, about the same as the average monthly gain of 153,000 in 2011. In October, employment rose in professional and business services (+51,000), retail trade (+36,000), and health care (+31,000).

Year-over-year job growth was led by professional and business services, which increased 3.0 percent, followed by leisure and hospitality at 2.5 percent, and education and health services at 2.1 percent.

Among U.S. households, the seasonally adjusted jobless rate was essentially unchanged at 7.9 percent in October. The number of unemployed was little changed over the month, though the civilian labor force rose by 578,000, thereby increasing the share of the eligible working population from 63.6 to 63.8 percent. Individuals that have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more (the long-term unemployed) numbered 5.0 million in October, making up 40.6 percent of all unemployed workers.

You can find more information on the current employment situation in the full BLS press release.

All numbers in this post are seasonally adjusted.