Unemployment Rate Falls to 4.1% in October 2026
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a drop of 0.1 percentage point from September, while nonfarm payrolls added 165,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate was 4.1% in October 2026, down from 4.2% in September 2026, according to seasonally adjusted figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 165,000 jobs in October 2026, bringing the total to 159.3 million jobs, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Average hourly earnings of private employees were $38.00 in October 2026, up 0.4% from September and up 3.1% from a year earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics, via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
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The official source
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Employment Situation, October 2026
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 165,000 jobs in October 2026 (seasonally adjusted). Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 60,000 jobs in September 2026, as now estimated.
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Facts this version was allowed to use
- Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 165,000 jobs in October 2026 (seasonally adjusted).
- Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 60,000 jobs in September 2026, as now estimated.
- Total nonfarm payroll employment totaled 159.3 million jobs in October 2026.
- The unemployment rate was 4.1% in October 2026 (seasonally adjusted).
- The unemployment rate was 4.2% in September 2026.
- The unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point from September 2026 to October 2026.
- Average hourly earnings of private employees was $38.00 in October 2026 (seasonally adjusted).
- Average hourly earnings of private employees was $37.86 in September 2026, so the latest figure is up 0.4% from September 2026.
- Average hourly earnings of private employees was $36.85 in October 2025, so the latest figure is up 3.1% from a year earlier.
- The figures were published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its Employment Situation release on November 6, 2026.
- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Employment Situation report for October 2026.
- The news release was embargoed until 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, November 6, 2026.
- Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 165,000 in October 2026.
- The unemployment rate changed little at 4.1 percent in October 2026.
- Employment increased in professional and business services, in health care, and in transportation and warehousing in October 2026.
- The number of unemployed people was 7.1 million in October 2026.
- The unemployment rate has remained in a narrow range of 4.1 percent to 4.3 percent since March.
- The unemployment rate for adult men was 3.9 percent in October 2026.
- The unemployment rate for adult women was 3.6 percent in October 2026.
- The unemployment rate for teenagers was 13.9 percent in October 2026.
- The unemployment rate for people who are White was 3.7 percent in October 2026.
- The unemployment rate for Black people was 6.6 percent in October 2026.
- The unemployment rate for Asian people was 2.8 percent in October 2026.
- The unemployment rate for Hispanic people was 4.7 percent in October 2026.
- The number of long-term unemployed, those jobless for 27 weeks or more, was 2.0 million in October 2026.
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