Unemployment Rate Stands at 3.7 Percent

November 4, 2022 – Employment rose by 261,000 in October as the U.S. unemployment rate edged down to 3.7 percent, according to the most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Notable job gains occurred in healthcare, professional and technical services, and manufacturing. The number of unemployed persons edged down to 6.1 million in October.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult women (3.4 percent) and whites (3.2 percent) rose in October. The jobless rates for adult men (3.3 percent), teenagers (11.0 percent), blacks (5.9 percent), Asians (2.9 percent), and Hispanics (4.2 percent) showed little or no change over the month.

Where Job Growth Occurred

• In October, employment in healthcare rose by 53,000, with gains in ambulatory health care services (+31,000), nursing and residential care facilities (+11,000), and hospitals (+11,000). So far in 2022, health care employment has increased by an average of 47,000 per month, compared with 9,000 per month in 2021.
• Professional and technical services added 43,000 jobs in October. Employment continued to trend up in management and technical consulting services (+7,000), architectural and engineering services (+7,000), and scientific research and development services (+5,000). Monthly job growth in professional and technical services has averaged 41,000 thus far in 2022, compared with 53,000 per month in 2021. Manufacturing added 32,000 jobs in October, mostly in durable goods industries (+23,000).
• Manufacturing employment has increased by an average of 37,000 per month thus far this year, compared with 30,000 per month in 2021.
• Employment in social assistance increased by 19,000 in October and was slightly below (-9,000) its pre-pandemic level in February 2020. Within social assistance, employment in individual and family services continued to trend up in October (+10,000).
• Wholesale trade added 15,000 jobs in October. Employment in wholesale trade has increased by an average of 17,000 per month thus far in 2022, compared with 13,000 per month in 2021.
• Employment in leisure and hospitality continued to trend up in October (+35,000), with accommodation adding 20,000 jobs. Employment in food services and drinking places changed little over the month (+6,000). Leisure and hospitality has added an average of 78,000 jobs per month thus far this year, less than half of the average gain of 196,000 jobs per month in 2021. Employment in leisure and hospitality was down by 1.1 million, or 6.5 percent, from its February 2020 level.
• Employment in transportation and warehousing changed little in October (+8,000). Within the industry, job growth occurred in truck transportation (+13,000), couriers and messengers (+7,000), and air transportation (+4,000). These gains were partially offset by a job loss in warehousing and storage (-20,000). Monthly job growth in transportation and warehousing has averaged 25,000 thus far this year, compared with 36,000 per month in 2021.
• In October, financial activities employment was little changed (+3,000). Within the industry, job gains in insurance carriers and related activities (+9,000) and in securities, commodity contracts, and investments (+5,000) were partially offset by a job loss in rental and leasing services (-8,000). Employment in financial activities has changed little over the past six months.
• Employment changed little over the month in other major industries, including mining, construction, retail trade, information, other services, and government.

Joseph Blass is the CEO of Ezekia, a provider of software for search firms. The company offers full business development and assignment management tools as well as internal and external reporting, GDPR compliance, and invoicing. Mr. Blass sat down with Hunt Scanlon Media to discuss what he is seeing with the global economy and what to expect looking forward.

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Joseph, how have the events of the past two years changed how people do business? 

COVID has been a big driver to get people working remotely. The shift to remote working meant that the search firms were required to provided their employees with software that can be accessible from any device and that is fast and secure. It also means that teams need to collaborate remotely and that the management of the search firms need to improve the quality of reporting on the performance of the business.

What do you see for the global economy looking ahead? 

The rising inflation and the potential of recession naturally get people nervous and that translates into a self-fulfilling prophecy of a negative effect on the economy. On the other hand, unlike the 2008 recession, employment levels remain high and from what we can tell, many search firms remain very busy, which is a sign of vibrant economic activity. So perhaps more of a hope than a prediction, I hope that inflation can be contained with a soft landing rather than a crash.

“The rising inflation and the potential of recession naturally get people nervous and that translates into a self-fulfilling prophecy of a negative effect on the economy.”

Are talent shortages here to stay? 

I believe so. Whether we are facing a short-term recession or not, what is clear is that the global economy is changing due to geo-political shifts, such as the shift towards clean energy and due to rapid technological changes. In a rapidly changing global economy, new skills are required and therefore, for the foreseeable future, there will be a shortage of people combining the new skills and experience

Can you share what is currently going at Ezekia? Any new enhancements to products or anything coming up that you would like to share? 

Ezekia is always evolving and always will be. Over the past year Ezekia has perfected the query builder tool allowing customers to easily design and run bespoke reports on any aspect of their data. In the coming weeks, these reports will also appear as a visual dashboard which can be customized by each firm and each user. In the coming months we will also be releasing the org-chart feature and we will be completing our Zapier integration to enable full integration between Ezekia and accounting systems. All of the above is just a snippet of what is coming.

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media