HICKEY Jobs Report Update – October 2021
Hickey Jobs Report Update – U.S. adds 531,000 jobs as unemployment drops to 4.6% in October 2021.
U.S. economy adds 531,000 jobs and unemployment drops by only .2%, according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Jobs Report.
This month’s release of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics October 2021 Employment Situation Summary, often referred to as the Jobs Report, shows widespread job growth in several key industries. While most areas increased employment figures last month, public education stands out as one of the only sectors that worryingly continues to lose jobs.
Even though unemployment only decreased by .2% from September, gains in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, manufacturing, and in transportation and warehousing are good news for the short term.
Key Industries
Leisure and Hospitality
Still down by 8.2% or 1.4 million from pre-pandemic numbers, the sector did experience significant growth in October by adding 164k jobs. Most of which (119K) occurred where the industry needed it most, food service and drinking places, which is up from only 29k added jobs in September.
Education
The pandemic continues to wreak havoc on our education system. State and local government education combined to lose 65k jobs in October, while private education had a slight increase of 17k jobs. The sector is still down by 723k jobs since February 2020.
Professional and Business Services
An increase of 100k jobs last month is up from a 60k job increase in September. The largest gain happened in temp services and the sector is 215k jobs below pre-pandemic levels.
Manufacturing
Good news for the auto industry, as it led manufacturing gains with 28k new jobs. The sector added 60k jobs overall in October.
Transportation and Warehousing
A pandemic era rarity, the industry is 149k jobs above February 2020 figures and added 54k jobs last month. The only division to decrease in this sector was couriers and messengers, which lost 5k jobs in October after increasing for three months prior.
Retail Trade
Gains of 35k jobs in October are a decrease from September’s increase of 56k jobs. The industry is still 140k jobs down from February 2020.
Other Industries
Among other industries across the U.S. economy, the following employment numbers were released in the latest report:
Healthcare: +37k
Financial: +21k
Construction: +44k
Wholesale Trade: +14k
Information: +10k
Mining: +5k
For more information on the latest Jobs Report, including additional details on the data concepts and statistical methodologies utilized, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Summary website.
If you are interested in learning more about the jobs reports, along with how we support our clients with dynamic labor analytics, we would be excited to connect one of our location strategy experts: