The US nonfarm payroll total stood at 159,293 thousand in October 2026, with a monthly increase of 165 thousand and an unemployment rate of 4.1%, according to BLS data.
The monthly gain was a new high over the latest 24 periods, pointing to a pickup in employment expansion. Over the past six months, the total rose from 158,861 thousand to 159,293 thousand; after a 60 thousand gain in September, October added 165 thousand, keeping the trend in moderate expansion. The unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage point from 4.2% in the prior month. Private payrolls rose by 159 thousand, goods-producing sectors added only 15 thousand and services added 150 thousand, underscoring a services-led composition.
Structural divergence remained pronounced: healthcare added 16 thousand, manufacturing 19 thousand, transportation and warehousing 25 thousand, and retail 6 thousand, while construction fell 3 thousand and food services lost 7 thousand. Temporary help services swung from a decline of 10.9 thousand in the prior month to an increase of about 18.6 thousand, a month-on-month swing of about 29.5 thousand and a relatively high reading over the latest 23 periods; this may suggest some recovery in short-term labor demand, but the current data alone are insufficient to confirm the reason. The improvement in manufacturing and transportation/warehousing also points to a partial repair in goods-related hiring, while weakness in construction and food services shows that internal divergence persists.
Overall, the October report shows “firmer aggregate growth, services dominance and structural divergence”; the headline gain and the temporary-help rebound are the main bright spots, and the durability of goods-sector and consumer-related hiring bears watching.