The U.S. economy gained 150,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 3.9%, according to figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
October’s biggest job gains were in health care (+58,000), government (+51,000), construction (+23,000), social assistance (+19,000), leisure and hospitality (+19,000), and professional and business services (+15,000). Jobs declined over the month in manufacturing (-35,000), transportation and warehousing (-12,000) , and information (-9,000). Over the month, employment showed little change in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; wholesale trade; retail trade; financial activities; and other services.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for teenagers (13.2%), Black Americans (5.8%), Hispanics (4.8%), adult men (3.7%), White Americans (3.5%), adult women (3.3%) and Asian Americans (3.1%) showed little change in October.
The number of long-term unemployed workers (those jobless for 27 weeks or longer) was little changed in September and accounted for 19.8% of the total number of people unemployed.