Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.7 percent, and the employment-population ratio, at 60.2 percent, changed little in October. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.3 million, changed little in October. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-8.)

In October, the number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job was 5.4 million, little different from the prior month. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job. (See table A-1.)

Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of persons marginally attached to the labor force changed little at 1.4 million in October. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, also changed little over the month at 416,000. (See Summary table A.)

[BLS reported 101,000 in downward revisions for the past two months in this report. Wages went up 0.2% from September and 4.1% from October 2022, but that barely keeps up with inflation, and average hours worked declined slightly, as did overtime. One issue in this month’s calculations is the UAW strike, which created a -33K hit to manufacturing, and that will bounce back in the next report. There are a few other oddities in the Household survey, too. The civilian labor force dropped by 201K and the number employed dropped by 348K, while the “Not In Labor Force” number rose by 416K. This survey can get pretty dodgy, so expect to see some corrections in the next iteration there too. — Ed]