By Kellie Lail
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released its October 2022 Report, so let’s take a look at how employment fared over the last month.
*Important Note: The Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that the effects of Hurrican Ian had “no discernible effect” on October’s national employment and unemployment data*
The great news is: In October, employment rose by 261,000. Health care, professional and technical services, and manufacturing garnered the largest share of new jobs last month. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings for private non-farm payroll jobs have increased by 4.7%. In October, hourly earnings in the private sector and nonsupervisory employees rose by 9 cents to $27.86. The number of discouraged workers who believed there were no jobs available to them decreased to 371,000 by 114,000 persons in October.
The good news is: The unemployment rate has remained steady, maintaining its range of 3.5% to 3.7% since March of 2022. The number of permanent job losers remained relatively unchanged in October at 1.2 million while the number of persons on temporary layoff also changed little at 847,000. The number of long-term unemployed also showed little change during October at 1.2 million people, accounting for 19.5% of all unemployed persons. The number of people who were not currently in the job force and do not want a job was little changed in October, coming in at 5.7 million people compared to the February 2020 pre-pandemic low of 5.0 million people. Because they were not actively looking for work in the 4 weeks leading up to the surveys, these people are not counted as unemployed.
The bad news is: The unemployment rate in October rose by 0.2%, to 3.7% overall. The number of unemployed persons rose by 306,000 to reach 6.1 million people in October. In October, the unemployment rates for adult women and Whites rose to reach 3.4% and 3.2%, respectively. The number of people who had looked for work in the past 12 months and wanted a job, but were not actively searching for employment in the 4 weeks leading up to the survey was relatively unchanged from September at 1.5 million.
Keep in mind: With the number of unemployed persons remaining relatively steady over recent months, competition in the job market continues to build. To attract the best candidates that are looking to work in your industry, you must show them that you are the most competitive employer in terms of salary, benefits, career stability, remote or flexibility options and career growth opportunities.