Part 1 - The real unemployment rate for November 6th:
Bottom Line: October was an exceptional month for job growth after September's hurricanes brought us the weakest month of the year for jobs. The snap-back to outstanding growth is confirmation of the economy's momentum and a clear indication that the hurricanes were bumps in the economic road - not road blocks.
Headline unemployment rate 4.1% (down .1%)
261,000 jobs added in October
90,000 jobs added through positive revisions for prior months
The net 351,000 jobs added was the best in a single month since May of 2010
Top industries for hiring:
#1 Food service (+89,000 jobs)
#2 Professional & business services (+50,000 jobs)
#3 Manufacturing (+24,000 jobs)
After a huge decline in employment in food service due to the hurricanes - we saw that most of those jobs came back in October. Outside of food service we experienced a surge in business service jobs & manufacturing passing healthcare for job growth! Who would have placed that bet a year ago. Now for the real unemployment rate:
Actual: 7.9% down from 9.5% (year over year improvement of 17%)
So here are three relevant points:
1. When the long-term unemployed & marginally employed are factored in - the real unemployment remains nearly double the base reported rate but is now at it's lowest level in 11 years!
2. 1.6 million are long-term unemployed, 4.8 million are underemployed (part-time seeking full-time work) & 1.5 million are marginally attached to the workforce
3. The base unemployment rate is the best in 16 years & 11 months! The real unemployment rate is the best it's been in 11 years!
In part two we'll take a look at the demographics of the unemployed...