October was a good month for job growth, beating the estimated payroll increase by over 50,000. Leisure and hospitality jobs came out on top of the October employment report, adding over 60,000 jobs last month. Meanwhile, construction added 10,000 jobs while manufacturing lost 36,000.
The October 2019 employment report showed U.S. companies collectively added way more jobs than expected during the month, as robust gains in leisure and hospitality and persistent strength in health care offset expected softness in manufacturing.
The government reported Friday that payrolls increased by 128,000, easily besting the 75,000 estimate economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.6%, but held inches away from a 50-year low.
The government also revised September and August jobs numbers significantly higher: August’s initial 168,000 estimate came all the way up to 219,000 while September’s jumped from 136,000 to 180,000.
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