October Jobs Report: U.S. Adds 165,000 Jobs as Jobless Spells Lengthen
The U.S. added 165,000 jobs in October and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, but the average period without work reached 27.1 weeks. About 2 million people had been unemployed for at least 27 weeks, a group that accounted for 27.6% of jobless workers.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said its October jobs report showed 165,000 jobs added and an unemployment rate of 4.1%, while the average period without work reached 27.1 weeks. The figures point to a labor market where hiring remains steady overall but job seekers are taking longer to find work.
That average was the highest outside the pandemic period in a decade. About 2 million people had been unemployed for at least 27 weeks, accounting for 27.6% of all unemployed workers in October, the largest share since late 2021.
People unemployed for at least 27 weeks are classified as long-term unemployed. Many have used up most or all of their government unemployment benefits, which generally stop after 26 weeks in a year.
“This is a series that can be noisy from month to month,” said Cory Stahle, senior economist at hiring platform Indeed. “But if you look over a longer time horizon, there is no mistake in the trend.”
Stahle said the duration of job searches now exceeds the period for which unemployed people can receive benefits. “Now, the average unemployed person takes longer to find a job than their benefits would last,” he said. “That is a really key point of this.”
The increase in long-term unemployment sits alongside signs of strength in other parts of the labor market. October payroll growth exceeded economists’ forecasts, and the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1%, slightly below expectations.
Job openings in September also came in much higher than economists expected, according to a separate Bureau of Labor Statistics report. The number of workers quitting jobs, a measure of confidence in finding new work, rose to a level not seen since March 2025.
The bureau also reported that layoffs and discharges fell to their lowest volume in more than a year. At the same time, recent workforce cuts have included planned job reductions at Disney and a 5% head-count cut announced by American Express last month.
Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond wrote that extended unemployment can become self-reinforcing. “Time spent unemployed may itself reduce the probability of finding a job, perhaps because skills depreciate, networks thin or employers interpret long unemployment durations as a negative signal,” they wrote.
