{"id":4796,"date":"2023-11-03T18:33:11","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T18:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frankbuysphilly.com\/labor-market-cools-on-strike-activity\/"},"modified":"2023-11-03T18:33:11","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T18:33:11","slug":"labor-market-cools-on-strike-activity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frankbuysphilly.com\/labor-market-cools-on-strike-activity\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor market cools on strike activity"},"content":{"rendered":"
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October job gains<\/a> significantly cooled compared to September, falling back under the average monthly gain of 258,000 over the prior 12 months. <\/p>\n Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 150,000 jobs in October, half of the number posted in September<\/a>, according to data<\/a> released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/strong><\/a>. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.9%, aligning with the Fed\u2019s projection<\/a> for 2023 of 3.8%. The number of unemployed persons also ticked up to 6.5 million. While wages kept rising, October posted the slowest pace of wage growth since June 2021, according to Bright MLS<\/strong> Chief Economist\u00a0Lisa Sturtevant.<\/p>\n Job openings<\/a> also kept steady in September at 9.6 million, falling somewhere between their March 2022 high (12 million) and their relative pre-pandemic November 2018 high (7.6 million).<\/p>\n Additionally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised down\u00a0the change in total nonfarm payroll employment for September by 39,000, from +336,000 to +297,000. In August, it was revised down by 62,000, from +227,000 to +165,000. In other words, employment in August and September combined is 101,000 lower than previously reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n In October, health care, government, and social assistance posted some strong job gains. Meanwhile, employment in manufacturing dropped, reflecting strike activity at companies such as UAW.<\/p>\n In October, construction employment continued to trend up, adding 23,000 more jobs, aligning with the average monthly gain of 18,000 over the prior 12 months. More specifically, jobs picked up in specialty trade contractors (+14,000) and construction of buildings (+6,000).<\/p>\n \u201cThe continuing strength of the construction labor market may be surprising, but it\u2019s reflective of broader housing market dynamics today,\u201d First American Economist Ksenia Potapov said in a statement. \u201dBuilders are benefitting from a lack of re-sale inventory as existing homeowners remain rate-locked in.\u201d<\/p>\nWhat to expect in the housing market ?<\/h2>\n