U.S. jobs increase in October

October brought about a welcome change in the U.S. job market, according to The New York Times. 151,000 jobs were added last month after four straight months of losses.  The increase was not enough to change the unemployment rate of 9.6 percent , but the number of jobs added in October was 2.5 times the projected a 60,000 job increase.

While the news from October is good, unemployment numbers are still staggering.  Nearly 15 million people are actively searching for a job, and 17 percent of Americans are working part-time because they cannot find work or have given up on finding work entirely.  While unemployment hasn’t decreased, there is a bit of a silver lining as it hasn’t increased since May either.

Education, Healthcare Lead Job Growth

The biggest areas of growth last month were education, healthcare, retail, and temporary services.  These four sectors accounted for over two-thirds of the jobs added.

•                Education and Healthcare: 53,000

•                Temporary Help Services: 34,900

•                Retail: 28,000

The job growth was accompanied by a slight increase in the workweek in the private sector. The average number of hours worked increased from 34.2 to 34.3.  This increase in the number of hours worked can also be seen as a sign that a greater number of hires will be made in the coming months. 

But for businesses to stay competitive, John E. Silva, chief economist at Wells Fargo, told The New York Times that they must increase the number of workers, not just increase the workweek for current employees or more make them more efficient.  Whether or not that holds true remains to be seen, but for at least a month, the U.S. economy appears headed in the right direction.