October Jobs Report: Leisure and Hospitality Lead the Way

The October Jobs Report was released by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. The government reported that U.S. payrolls increased by 128,000, beating the expectation of 75,000 from economists.

Leading the way was the leisure and hospitality sector, which alone contributed 61,000 new jobs in October. Of that total, 48,000 jobs are from food and beverage establishments, according to the Labor Department. The number is the highest since January of this year.

The job growth total for leisure and hospitality in October is a continuation of a trend over the past three months. The sector has seen an average of 38,000 new jobs per month in that span, while averaging just 16,000 per month over 2019’s first seven months.

Another industry that saw notable gains in October is healthcare. The sector added 15,000 new jobs, continuing an upward trajectory. In the past year, there have been 402,000 healthcare payrolls added.

Conversely, manufacturing jobs decreased by 36,000 in October. Motor vehicle and parts shrank by 42,000 in the month, a product of strike activity, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report.