US employers added 165,000 jobs in October 2026; unemployment rate 4.1%
The employment situation for October 2026, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Snapshot
US nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 in October 2026, and the unemployment rate was 4.1%, down from 4.2% in September 2026.
- Independent Research
What We Know
In September 2026, payrolls rose by 60,000, in the figures published today. Over the last 3 months payrolls changed by an average of plus 137,000 a month.
Monthly payroll change, oldest first, in thousands: Oct 2025 minus 140; Nov 2025 41; Dec 2025 minus 17; Jan 2026 160; Feb 2026 minus 156; Mar 2026 214; Apr 2026 148; May 2026 63; Jun 2026 31; Jul 2026 minus 10; Aug 2026 186; Sep 2026 60; Oct 2026 165.
Octans View
Payroll changes are computed from the published employment levels, so they can differ by a thousand or so from the change in the release because of rounding.
Bear Case · Room for Disagreement
Limits. These are the figures as the Bureau of Labor Statistics published them and FRED carries them today; later revisions can change them. The brief makes no forecast and does not compare the release with economists' expectations.
Method and source. Octans Research reads the series from FRED on release day. Published levels and rates are used as they are; changes are computed from the published levels, and "highest since" compares the latest reading with the full history of the series. The text is generated by a fixed template; no model wrote it.
Sources
- [1]Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED) — All employees, total nonfarm (thousands), seasonally adjusted (series PAYEMS)
- [2]Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED) — Unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted (series UNRATE)
These are the sources this piece was drafted from. How we verify. Found an error? Tell us and we correct it in public.
4.1%
4 reports
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Weekly unemployment insurance claims, published by the Department of Labor.
Treasury 20 Year Auction Yield Climbs to 5.42 Percent Before Late October Easing
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Gross domestic product, published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
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Weekly unemployment insurance claims, published by the Department of Labor.