Unemployment rate rises to 10.2 percent, highest since 1983

From press release

The unemployment rate rose from 9.8 to 10.2 percent in October, and nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline (minus 190,000), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Nov. 6. The largest job losses over the month were in construction, manufacturing and retail trade.

Household survey data

In October, the number of unemployed people increased by 558,000 to 15.7 million. The unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage point to 10.2 percent, the highest rate since April 1983.

Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed people has risen by 8.2 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 5.3 percentage points.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (10.7 percent) and whites (9.5 percent) rose in October. The jobless rates for adult women (8.1 percent), teenagers (27.6 percent), blacks (15.7 percent), and Hispanics (13.1 percent) were little changed over the month. The unemployment rate for Asians was 7.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted.

The civilian labor force participation rate was little changed over the month at 65.1 percent. The employment-population ratio continued to decline in October, falling to 58.5 percent.

The number of people working part-time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed in October at 9.3 million. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

About 2.4 million people were marginally attached to the labor force in October, reflecting an increase of 736,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the four weeks preceding the survey.

Among the marginally attached, there were 808,000 discouraged workers in October, up from 484,000 a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are people not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The other 1.6 million people marginally attached to the labor force in October had not searched for work in the four weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.

Establishment survey data

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 190,000 in October. In the most recent three months, job losses have averaged 188,000 per month, compared with losses averaging 357,000 during the prior three months. In contrast, losses averaged 645,000 per month from November 2008 to April 2009. Since December 2007, payroll employment has fallen by 7.3 million.

Construction employment decreased by 62,000 in October. Monthly job losses have averaged 67,000 during the most recent six months, compared with an average decline of 117,000 during the prior six months. October job losses were concentrated in nonresidential specialty trade contractors (minus 30,000) and in heavy construction (minus 14,000). Since December 2007, employment in construction has fallen by 1.6 million.

Manufacturing continued to shed jobs (minus 61,000) in October, with losses in both durable and nondurable goods production. Over the past four months, job losses in manufacturing have averaged 51,000 per month, compared with an average monthly loss of 161,000 from October 2008 through June 2009. Manufacturing employment has fallen by 2.1 million since December 2007.

Retail trade lost 40,000 jobs in October. Employment declines were concentrated in sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores (minus 16,000) and in department stores (minus 11,000). Employment in transportation and warehousing decreased by 18,000 in October.

Health care employment continued to increase in October (29,000). Since the start of the recession, health care has added 597,000 jobs.

Temporary help services has added 44,000 jobs since July, including 34,000 in October. From January 2008 through July 2009, temporary help services had lost an average of 44,000 jobs per month.

The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33 hours in October. The manufacturing workweek rose by 0.1 hour to 40 hours, and factory overtime increased by 0.2 hour over the month.

In October, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 5 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $18.72. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.4 percent, while average weekly earnings have risen by only 0.9 percent because of declines in the average workweek.

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for August was revised from minus 201,000 to minus 154,000, and the change for September was revised from minus 263,000 to minus 219,000.

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