The United States economy added 150,000 jobs in October as hiring dropped a bit during a massive autoworkers strike, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That figure is below the monthly average of 258,000 in the last year.
Affecting last month's job figures was a loss of over 33,000 jobs in the motor vehicles and parts manufacturing trade. For much of the month, thousands of employees from the United Auto Workers were on strike.
Making up for that was an added 58,000 positions in the health care field.
About 140,000 more Americans were receiving unemployment in October compared to September, bringing the national unemployment rate to 3.9%. October marked the 20th consecutive month unemployment remained below 4%. It has been over five decades since the unemployment rate has remained below 4% for over 20 months.
Stellantis says UAW strike cost over $3 billion
Although the company took a multi-billion-dollar loss due to the strike, Stellantis netted over $11 billion in profits from January to July.
The data continues to show those with higher levels of education having lower unemployment rates. Those with bachelor's degrees or higher had an unemployment rate of 2.1%, while those who graduated from high school without attending college had a 4% unemployment rate.
Average weekly earnings dropped by about $1 from $1,167 in September to $1,166 in October. Workers are still earning about $36 a week more than in October 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
In the last year, the U.S. workforce has grown by 3.1 million, while at the same time the number of those not in the workforce dropped by about 450,000.
