October’s Nonfarm Payroll Employment Moves Higher for Sixth Consecutive Month

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is reporting that total nonfarm payroll employment rose for the sixth consecutive month in October by 638,000. According to the BLS the improvement in the labor markets reflects 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 the leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade, and construction. Employment in government declined. In October, the unemployment rate declined by -1.0% point to 6.9%, ant the number of unemployed persons fell by 1.5 million to 11.1 million. Both measures have declined for six consecutive months but are nearly twice their February levels (3.5% and 53.8 million, respectively).