The jobs report for October came in much weaker than expected, and employment growth across different industries painted a mixed picture for the U.S. economy.
The biggest contribution last month came from health care and social assistance, with 51,300 new positions added in that area, per data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. If private education is included with the health-care group, like some economists do, the category would have shown even more growth at 57,000.
Government had the second-highest gains in the period, seeing jobs surge by 40,000. That is close to the group’s average monthly gain of roughly 43,000 in the prior 12 months.
Meanwhile, wholesale trade and construction also saw some gains, recording growth of 10,400 and 8,000, respectively.
Other industries recorded massive losses, however. Professional and business services led the way, posting declines of 47,000. Manufacturing was right behind that category, declining by 46,000.
Notably, the Bureau of Labor Statistics cited strike activity as a driver of the declines in manufacturing. Boeing’s machinist strike has been going on for more than seven weeks. On Thursday, however, Boeing and the union reached a sweetened contract offer that will be voted on Monday.
Julia Pollak, ZipRecruiter’s chief economist, said that while this report “largely” reflects the effects of the strike and storms such as Hurricanes Helene and Milton, it is not necessarily a “blip.”
“It is quite consistent with the big picture and the ongoing labor market slowdown that we’ve seen over the past two years,” she told CNBC. “The main issue in the labor market is still restricted monetary policy, not strikes and storms, and that actually is sort of a consistent narrative that we’ve seen.”
Leisure and hospitality, the leader of employment growth in the September report, and retail trade were two other key areas marred by declines. The former shrank by 4,000 jobs, while the latter shrank even more at 6,400.