U.S. adds 165,000 jobs in October; jobless rate 4.1%

U.S. employers added 165,000 jobs in October and the unemployment rate stayed near 4.1 per cent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday in its Employment Situation report.

The gain is more than three times the 48,000 monthly average over the previous 12 months, and revisions to the two prior months added 84,000 jobs to earlier estimates.

“Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 165,000 in October, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.1 per cent,” the bureau said in the opening line of its release. It said employment increased in professional and business services, in health care, and in transportation and warehousing.

Professional and business services added 70,000 jobs, health care added 42,000 and transportation and warehousing added 25,000. Manufacturing added 19,000, the bureau said.

The bureau revised August job growth up by 53,000, to 186,000 from 133,000. September was revised up by 31,000, to 60,000 from 29,000. Combined, the two months are 84,000 higher than previously reported.

The unemployment rate, which was 4.2 per cent in September and 4.1 per cent in August, has stayed between 4.1 and 4.3 per cent since March, the bureau said. About 7.1 million people were unemployed. The labour force participation rate was 61.9 per cent, up from 61.8 per cent in September.

Average hourly earnings for private-sector employees rose 14 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $38.00 in October, and are up 3.1 per cent from a year earlier. The average workweek held at 34.4 hours.

Reuters reported that the data sent U.S. Treasury yields higher.

The report arrives as central banks on both sides of the border are weighing inflation against growth. The U.S. Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 3.75 to 4 per cent on Oct. 28, in a 10-2 vote with two governors favouring a hike, as Canada News Media reported. The same day, the Bank of Canada raised its policy rate by a quarter point to 2.5 per cent, its first increase since July 2023.

The United States is Canada’s largest trading partner, and U.S. hiring and wage growth feed into demand for Canadian exports. The October figures do not on their own show how a stronger U.S. labour market will affect the Fed’s next decision, and neither central bank has said how it will respond.

The bureau publishes the data as the first estimate for October. Monthly payroll figures are routinely revised, as the August and September changes in this release show.

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Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Situation Summary for October 2026, released Nov. 6, 2026.