U.S. added 638,000 jobs in October, unemployment rate slides to 6.9%

Economic News Release USDL-20-2033

Employment Situation Summary
Transmission of material in this news release is embargoed until 8:30 a.m. (ET) Friday, November 6, 2020

Technical information:
Household data: [email protected] * www.bls.gov/cps
Establishment data: [email protected] * www.bls.gov/ces

Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * [email protected]


THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- OCTOBER 2020


Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 638,000 in October, and the unemployment rate declined to 6.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. These improvements in the labor market reflect the continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it. In October, notable job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade, and construction. Employment in government declined.

This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. Fornmore information about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical Note.

Household Survey Data

In October, the unemployment rate declined by 1.0 percentage point to 6.9 percent, and the number of unemployed persons fell by 1.5 million to 11.1 million. Both measures have declined for 6 consecutive months but are nearly twice their February levels (3.5 percent and 5.8 million, respectively). (See table A-1. For more information about how the household survey and its measures were affected by the coronavirus pandemic, see the box note at the end of this news release.)

Unemployment rates declined among all major worker groups in October. The rate was 6.7 percent for adult men, 6.5 percent for adult women, 13.9 percent for teenagers, 6.0 percent for Whites, 10.8 percent for Blacks, 7.6 percent for Asians, and 8.8 percent for Hispanics. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

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The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.8 hours in October. In manufacturing, the workweek increased by 0.3 hour to 40.5 hours, and overtime rose by 0.2 hour to 3.2 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 0.1 hour to 34.2 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for August was revised up by 4,000 from +1,489,000 to +1,493,000, and the change for September was revised up by 11,000 from +661,000 to +672,000. With these revisions, employment in August and September combined was 15,000 higher than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors.)

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The Employment Situation for November is scheduled to be released on Friday, December 4, 2020, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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