The American economy created 165,000 new jobs in October and the unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.1%, according to the monthly jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The 165,000 increase is more than triple the average monthly gain of 48,000 over the previous 12 months, the bureau said.
The unemployment rate has remained in a narrow range of 4.1% to 4.3% since March.
The labor force participation rate remained ticked up to 61.9%. These measures have shown little net change since January, the bureau said.
In industries important to Wisconsin, healthcare added 42,000 jobs in October, higher than the average monthly gain of 31,000 over the previous 12 months. In October, employment gains occurred in hospitals (+16,000), home health care services (+11,000) and outpatient care centers (+5,000).
Manufacturing employment continued its upward trend (+19,000) and has increased by 101,000 since December 2025.
Job gains were also reported in computer and electronic product manufacturing (+7,000), machinery manufacturing (+4,000) and primary metal manufacturing (+4,000).
The total number of unemployed people, at 7.1 million, changed little in October.
