Overview
- Private payrolls rose by 42,000 in October, beating forecasts of roughly 22,000–28,000 and breaking a two‑month losing streak.
- Gains were concentrated in trade/transportation/utilities (+47,000) and education/health services (+26,000), while information (-17,000), professional/business services (-15,000) and leisure/hospitality (-6,000) declined.
- Large employers added 73,000 jobs as small and midsize firms shed workers, highlighting a split by company size.
- Year‑over‑year pay growth held steady at 4.5% for job‑stayers and 6.7% for job‑changers, pointing to stable wage pressures.
- ADP revised September to a 29,000 loss and economists cautioned that the report is less representative than the suspended BLS survey during the ongoing shutdown.