October’s jobs report was much weaker than expected, with job growth across a variety of industries providing a mixed picture for the U.S. economy.
The biggest contributor last month was health care and social assistance, which added 51,300 new jobs, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. If private education had been included in the health care group, as some economists suggest, this category would have grown even more, to 57,000 people.
The government sector had the second-largest increase over the same period, adding 40,000 jobs. This is close to the group’s average monthly increase of approximately 43,000 over the past 12 months.
Meanwhile, wholesale trade and construction also saw slight increases, recording increases of 10,400 and 8,000 jobs, respectively.
However, other industries recorded huge losses. Professional and business services led the way, recording a decline of 47,000 jobs. Manufacturing was right behind this category, with a decline of 46,000 jobs.
Notably, the Bureau of Labor Statistics cites strike activity as a factor in the decline in manufacturing. Boeing’s machinists’ strike has been going on for more than seven weeks. But on Thursday, Boeing and the union agreed to a sweeter contract proposal that will be voted on Monday.
Julia Pollack, ZipRecruiter’s chief economist, said the report “mostly” reflects the impact of strikes and storms like Hurricanes Helen and Milton, but not necessarily “one-off.”
“This is very consistent with the big picture and the ongoing slowdown in the labor market that we’ve seen over the last two years,” he told CNBC. “The main problem in the labor market remains restrictive monetary policy, not strikes or storms, and that’s really kind of the consistent story we’ve seen so far.”
Leisure and hospitality, which was the leader in job growth in September’s report, and retail were two other major sectors hurt by declines. Employment fell by 4,000 in the former, but by a further 6,400 in the latter.
