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Nonfarm payroll employment up 150,000 in October 2023

November 15, 2023

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 150,000 in October 2023, below the average monthly gain of 258,000 over the prior 12 months. Job gains occurred in health care, social assistance, and government while employment in manufacturing declined.

1-month change in employment by industry, October 2023
Industry Employment change

Mining and logging

1,000

Logging

-100

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction

500

Oil and gas extraction

300

Mining (except oil and gas)

-1,000

Coal mining

-500

Metal ore mining

-500

Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying

0

Support activities for mining

1,200

Construction

23,000

Construction of buildings

6,300

Residential building construction

3,700

Nonresidential building construction

2,600

Heavy and civil engineering construction

1,600

Specialty trade contractors

14,200

Residential specialty trade contractors

10,000

Nonresidential specialty trade contractors

4,200

Manufacturing

-35,000

Durable goods

-36,000

Wood product manufacturing

-200

Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing

0

Primary metal manufacturing

-900

Fabricated metal product manufacturing

800

Machinery manufacturing

-1,700

Computer and electronic product manufacturing

-1,700

Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing

-800

Communications equipment manufacturing

600

Semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing

-900

Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing

-200

Manufacturing and reproducing magnetic and optical media and audio and video equipment manufacturing

-400

Electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing

400

Transportation equipment manufacturing[1]

-29,900

Motor vehicles and parts[2]

-33,200

Furniture and related product manufacturing

-1,500

Miscellaneous manufacturing

-1,700

Nondurable goods

1,000

Food manufacturing

6,200

Textile mills

100

Textile product mills

-1,200

Apparel manufacturing

-500

Paper manufacturing

600

Printing and related support activities

1,100

Petroleum and coal products manufacturing

-400

Chemical manufacturing

-2,600

Plastics and rubber products manufacturing

-3,100

Beverage, tobacco, and leather and allied product manufacturing

1,200

Trade, transportation, and utilities

-1,000

Wholesale trade

9,400

Merchant wholesalers, durable goods

3,600

Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods

2,900

Wholesale trade agents and brokers

2,900

Retail trade

700

Motor vehicle and parts dealers

5,900

Automobile dealers

5,900

Other motor vehicle dealers

-1,900

Automotive parts, accessories, and tire retailers

1,800

Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers

-3,100

Food and beverage retailers

3,400

Furniture, home furnishings, electronics, and appliance retailers

-3,400

Furniture and home furnishings retailers

1,900

Electronics and appliance retailers

-5,300

General merchandise retailers

700

Department stores

-1,600

Warehouse clubs, supercenters, and other general merchandise retailers

2,200

Health and personal care retailers

-300

Gasoline stations and fuel dealers

-2,200

Clothing, clothing accessories, shoe, and jewelry retailers

2,700

Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, book, and miscellaneous retailers

-3,000

Transportation and warehousing

-12,100

Air transportation

3,500

Rail transportation

0

Water transportation

1,200

Truck transportation

-5,000

Transit and ground passenger transportation

-700

Pipeline transportation

-500

Scenic and sightseeing transportation

-400

Support activities for transportation

-1,400

Couriers and messengers

2,600

Warehousing and storage

-11,400

Utilities

800

Information

-9,000

Motion picture and sound recording industries

-5,400

Publishing industries

-4,500

Broadcasting and content providers

300

Telecommunications

1,400

Computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting, and related services

-1,000

Web search portals, libraries, archives, and other information services

-100

Financial activities

-2,000

Finance and insurance

-7,800

Monetary authorities-central bank

-100

Credit intermediation and related activities

-10,000

Depository credit intermediation[1]

-5,400

Commercial banking

-5,800

Nondepository credit intermediation

-3,000

Activities related to credit intermediation

-1,600

Securities, commodity contracts, funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles, investments, and related activities

1,200

Insurance carriers and related activities

1,100

Real estate and rental and leasing

5,100

Real estate

3,300

Rental and leasing services

1,800

Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets (except copyrighted works)

0

Professional and business services

15,000

Professional, scientific, and technical services

17,000

Legal services

0

Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services

300

Architectural, engineering, and related services

2,600

Specialized design services

500

Computer systems design and related services

6,700

Management, scientific, and technical consulting services

2,600

Scientific research and development services

-1,100

Advertising, public relations, and related services

2,300

Other professional, scientific, and technical services

3,100

Management of companies and enterprises

-2,500

Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services

400

Administrative and support services

1,800

Office administrative services

6,000

Facilities support services

-300

Employment services[1]

-2,600

Temporary help services

6,600

Business support services

-7,500

Travel arrangement and reservation services

2,800

Investigation and security services

100

Services to buildings and dwellings

-300

Other support services

3,900

Waste management and remediation services

-1,400

Private education and health services

89,000

Private educational services

11,500

Health care and social assistance

77,200

Health care

58,400

Ambulatory health care services

32,400

Offices of physicians

12,600

Offices of dentists

-3,600

Offices of other health practitioners

4,400

Outpatient care centers

8,100

Medical and diagnostic laboratories

-1,100

Home health care services

9,500

Other ambulatory health care services

2,600

Hospitals

18,100

Nursing and residential care facilities

7,900

Skilled nursing care facilities

4,400

Residential intellectual and developmental disability, mental health, and substance abuse facilities

1,300

Continuing care retirement communities and assisted living facilities for the elderly

1,800

Other residential care facilities

300

Social assistance

18,800

Individual and family services

14,300

Community food and housing, and emergency and other relief services

1,300

Vocational rehabilitation services

400

Child care services

2,800

Leisure and hospitality

19,000

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

20,400

Performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries

10,300

Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions

600

Amusement, gambling, and recreation industries

9,500

Accommodation and food services

-800

Accommodation

6,700

Food services and drinking places

-7,500

Other services

-1,000

Repair and maintenance

1,000

Personal and laundry services

-3,500

Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations

1,100

Government

51,000

Federal

3,000

Federal, except U.S. Postal Service

2,400

U.S. Postal Service

800

State government

10,000

State government education

2,500

State government, excluding education

7,400

Local government

38,000

Local government education

26,400

Local government, excluding education

11,900

[1] Includes other industries, not shown separately.

[2] Includes motor vehicle manufacturing, motor vehicle body and trailer manufacturing, and motor vehicle parts manufacturing.

Within private education and health services, health care added 58,000 jobs in October 2023, in line with its average monthly gain of 53,000 over the prior 12 months. Over the month, employment continued to trend up in ambulatory health care services (+32,000), hospitals (+18,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+8,000). Social assistance added 19,000 jobs in October 2023, compared with its average monthly gain of 23,000 in the prior 12 months. Individual and family services employment grew 14,000 over the month.

Employment in government increased by 51,000 in October 2023, returning to its pre-pandemic February 2020 level. Monthly job growth in government had averaged 50,000 in the 12 months prior to October 2023. In October, employment continued to trend up in local government (+38,000).

In October 2023, employment in manufacturing decreased by 35,000, reflecting a decline of 33,000 in motor vehicles and parts that was largely due to strike activity.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent 2 months are preliminary. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — October 2023." Also see more charts of national employment, hours, and earnings data.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Nonfarm payroll employment up 150,000 in October 2023 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/nonfarm-payroll-employment-up-150000-in-october-2023.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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