October Jobs Report: 165,000 New Jobs, but Searches Now Last 27 Weeks. How to Use It for a Raise

Employers hired far more people in October than anyone expected, and paychecks grew a little faster too. But the same report shows that people who lose a job are staying out of work longer than at any point in about five years. If you are thinking about asking for a raise or looking for a new job before the end of the year, the October numbers tell you where the leverage is right now and where it isn’t.

What the October jobs report showed

The Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation report released on November 6 says U.S. employers added 165,000 jobs in October. That is more than three times the average monthly gain of 48,000 over the prior 12 months. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.1% from 4.2%, and it has stayed in a tight range of 4.1% to 4.3% since March.

Wall Street had braced for a much weaker month. CNBC reported that economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected only 59,000 new jobs. The government also revised August and September up by a combined 84,000 jobs, so the hiring picture over the late summer and fall was stronger than first reported.

Pay rose, but not as fast as prices

Average hourly earnings for private-sector workers rose 14 cents, or 0.4%, to $38.00 in October. Over the past year, pay is up 3.1%. For production and nonsupervisory workers, the average reached $32.75 an hour, also up 0.4% for the month.

That sounds good until you put it next to inflation. As USA Today pointed out, consumer prices rose 3.7% over the year through September. A 3.1% raise against 3.7% inflation means the typical worker is still slowly losing buying power. We covered the same squeeze in the employer cost data last month in our breakdown of the Employment Cost Index and falling real wages. The October jobs report confirms that the trend has not turned around yet.

The practical takeaway: if your employer offers a 3% raise this year, you are not getting ahead. You are falling a little behind. That is a fair and specific point to raise in any pay conversation.

Where the hiring is happening

The gains were concentrated in a few areas, according to the BLS release:

• Professional and business services: up 70,000, well above its usual 15,000 a month. Professional, scientific and technical services added 33,000, and administrative and support services added 28,000. The sector has added 269,000 jobs since a low in October 2025.
• Health care: up 42,000, led by hospitals (16,000), home health care (11,000) and outpatient care centers (5,000).
• Transportation and warehousing: up 25,000, mostly couriers and messengers (17,000), with air transportation adding 4,000.
• Manufacturing: up 19,000, with gains in computer and electronic products, machinery and primary metals. Factory employment is up 101,000 since December 2025, and manufacturing overtime edged up to 3.1 hours a week.

Construction, retail, finance, information, leisure and hospitality, and government showed little change. If you work in one of the growing fields, employers are competing for people like you, and that is real negotiating power. If you work in a flat industry, your best raise may come from moving your skills into a growing one.

The catch: job searches are getting longer

Here is the part of the report that should make job seekers careful. CNBC noted that the average time people spend unemployed jumped 2.3 weeks to 27.1 weeks, the longest since September 2021. BLS counts 2.0 million long-term unemployed, people out of work for 27 weeks or more, and they make up 27.6% of everyone who is unemployed.

Underemployment also rose. The number of people working part time because they could not find full-time work or had their hours cut jumped by 339,000 to 4.8 million. A broader unemployment measure that includes those workers rose to 7.9%, according to CNBC.

So employers are hiring, but they are hiring selectively. The labor force grew by 421,000 people in October, which means more competition for each opening. That fits the pattern we described in how to get a raise in a low-hire, low-fire job market: people with jobs have more leverage than people trying to get one.

How to use these numbers to get paid more

1. If you have a job, ask before budgets lock

Many companies finalize 2027 raise budgets in November and December. Bring the October numbers to your manager: pay is rising 3.1% nationally while prices rose 3.7%, so a raise at or below 3% is a pay cut in real terms. Ask for a number that at least keeps you even with inflation, and tie anything above that to specific results you delivered this year.

2. If you work in a growing sector, check your market rate

Health care, professional and technical services, logistics and manufacturing are all adding jobs faster than the rest of the economy. Look up current postings for your role in your area. Many states now require salary ranges in job ads, so you can often see what competitors are offering. If outside offers are meaningfully higher than your pay, that is the strongest case you can make for a raise, even if you never plan to leave.

3. If you are job hunting, plan for a longer search

With the average stretch of unemployment now over six months, the worst move is to panic and grab the first low offer. Workers who do that often lock in lower pay for years. Our guide to avoiding a pay cut when you need a job fast walks through how to set a floor before you start interviewing. A few basics help:

• Search while you are still employed if you can. You negotiate better when you do not need the offer.
• Focus applications on the sectors that are actually hiring instead of spreading them evenly.
• Use temporary, contract or part-time work as a bridge, but keep looking for a full-time role at your real market rate.
• Ask for a sign-on bonus or an early pay review if an employer will not move on base salary.

4. Watch the next few reports

The October data is preliminary, and BLS revises each month as more reports come in. The November jobs report is scheduled for Friday, December 4, 2026. Reuters reported that some analysts think the strong numbers keep a December interest-rate hike on the table as the Federal Reserve focuses on inflation, which could slow hiring next year. That is one more reason to push for your raise now, while employers are still adding workers.

The bottom line

October was a good month for hiring and a slightly better month for pay, but wages are still trailing prices, and people who lose a job are taking longer to find the next one. If you are employed, especially in health care, technical services, logistics or manufacturing, this is a solid moment to ask for a raise that beats inflation. If you are searching, give yourself a realistic timeline and a firm pay floor so a slow search does not turn into a permanent pay cut.

Sources: BLS Employment Situation, October 2026; CNBC; USA Today; Reuters via Yahoo Finance.