BLS Employment Situation Summary — October 2026

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its October employment / unemployment report on November 6^th, 2026.

Employment / Unemployment

• Seasonally Adjusted U-3 is 4.1% down from 4.2%
• Unadjusted U-3 is 3.9% down from 4.0%
• Unadjusted U-6 is 7.5% up from 7.3%
• Labor Force Participation is 61.9% up from 61.8%
• Unadjusted Employment rose from 159.254 million to 160.277 million
• Next Update: December 4th, 2026

Current Unemployment Rate Chart

Current Employment Chart

Unemployment by Education

Something rather strange is going on with the Employment by Education. Last month, High School Dropouts had a lower unemployment rate than High School Grads. But this month that number spiked back up sharply. But now, High School Grads have a lower unemployment rate than those with “Some College” or an Associate’s Degree. Strange…

Last month I postulated that it was possible that employers were replacing the deported workers with those without a H.S. degree. and perhaps this month they found they weren’t that good an employee and went to those with a H.S. degree instead?

BLS: October 2026 Employment by Sector

Looking at the  chart, we can see that Professional and Busines Services was the biggest gainer with an increase of +70,000 jobs. Followed by Education and Health at 53,000 jobs. 4 sectors didn’t show employment growth in October 2026: Leisure and hospitality lost -13,000 jobs, Construction lost -3,000 jobs, Mining and logging lost -1,000 jobs, and Information lost -1,000 jobs.

BLS Average Weekly Wages

BLS Employment Levels by Industry

October 2026, Seasonally Adjusted Employment

Employment levels are “Seasonally Adjusted” so the Monthly increase is not necessarily what you would expect. For instance Mining and Logging is supposed to be down -1,000 but it actually went down from 609,000 to 605,000, which looks more like -4,000 to me. But Construction went up from 8,359,000 to 8,367,000, an increase of +8,000, but it is down a “Seasonally Adjusted” -3,000.

Source: BLS

ADP^® National Employment Report

ADP provides an independent (non-government) estimate of private-sector employment and pay, based on data derived from ADP client payrolls. According to ADP®, In collaboration with Stanford Digital Economy Lab. As you can see, the numbers are quite different than those provided by the BLS, for instance BLS says construction lost -3,000 jobs, while ADP says it gained 13,000, which is closer to the +8,000 we saw above without the Seasonal Adjustment.

ADP: Private employers added 86,000 jobs in October

• Hiring showed solid growth for a second month, and pay gains were steady. There were weak spots; professional and business services lost jobs for the third straight month.

ADP Private Employment by Establishment Size

ADP Job Gainers / Losers

Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate Chart 1948-Present

Less Than Full Employment

This chart compares employment levels with the (inverted) unemployment rate.

Full Employment is when everyone who wants a job has one. It is generally considered to be around 3%.

Note: Full employment is not considered to be at zero percent because even when employers are having difficulty finding employees, some people are still unemployed due to either:

1. Structural unemployment (mismatch between worker skills and job requirements, i.e., not enough training) or
2. Frictional unemployment. There will always be people who have quit or have lost a seasonal job and are in the process of getting a new job.

Seasonally Adjusted U1 through U6 Unemployment Rates

Labor Force Participation Rate

The Labor Force Participation Rate is the percentage of the Non-Institutional Population that makes up the Labor Force.

And the Employment – Population Ratio is the percentage of the Total Population that is Employed.

Employment-Population Ratio

By Gender and Age

Employment-Population Ratio by Race

Percent Unemployed 27 weeks or Longer

Those unemployed 27 weeks or longer is creeping up. Currently, 27.6% of all unemployed have been unemployed for more than 6 months.

Read more on UnemploymentData.com.