US added 165,000 jobs in October, but the unemployed averaged 27.1 weeks out of work

According to a Dow Jones consensus forecast, the market had expected the US to add only 59,000 jobs in October. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported 165,000 on 6 November 2026, close to three times the forecast.

In the same report, another set of figures pointed the other way. About 2 million people had been unemployed for 27 weeks or more, making up 27.6% of all unemployed people. According to CNBC, that is the highest share since late 2021.

Jobs are being added, yet people who cannot find work are waiting longer. Both can be true at once, and the explanation starts with the numbers themselves.

Confirmed figures: more jobs, unemployment at 4.1%

BLS figures show non-farm payrolls rose by 165,000 in October on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unemployment rate was 4.1% and about 7.1 million people were unemployed. CNBC said the market had expected an unemployment rate of 4.2%, while NBC News described the rate as slipping to 4.1%.

The previous two months were also revised up: August job gains were raised by 53,000 to 186,000 and September by 31,000 to 60,000, a combined upward revision of 84,000.

October's gains were concentrated in a few sectors:

• Professional and business services: up 70,000
• Health care: up 42,000
• Transportation and warehousing: up 25,000
• Manufacturing: up 19,000
• Retail, construction, government and other broad categories: little changed

Average hourly earnings of private non-farm employees rose by 14 cents (0.4%) on the month to $38.00, and by 3.1% on the year. NBC News noted that this is still below inflation: the latest consumer price index (CPI), published on 14 October, showed inflation at 3.7%.

The BLS labour force participation rate was 61.9% and the employment-population ratio was 59.3%. CNBC reported that the labour force grew by 421,000 and household-survey employment by 463,000, but the broader U-6 unemployment rate, which also counts discouraged workers and people working part-time involuntarily, rose by 0.3 percentage points to 7.9%.

An average of 27.1 weeks, a median of only 11.9

The BLS table on duration of unemployment shows that in October the seasonally adjusted average was 27.1 weeks and the median was 11.9 weeks. The unadjusted average was 28.1 weeks. CNBC said the average duration was up 2.3 weeks from the previous month, the highest since September 2021.

The average is more than double the median. Going by the figures in the BLS table, this means a minority of people who have been out of work for a long time are pulling the average up. This is the editor's comparison, not a BLS conclusion.

On the number of long-term unemployed, the BLS summary says about 2 million, while the table shows 1.963 million seasonally adjusted. The difference is rounding.

Low hiring, low firing: behind the contradictory numbers

CNBC described the current US labour market as low-hire, low-fire: layoffs and discharges fell to their lowest in more than a year, but hiring is also weak. KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk told NBC News that "the problem is low turnover" and said fewer people are entering the labour market.

NBC News said economists see low turnover and slowing growth in the labour force as signs of stagnation, even though unemployment remains low.

Unconfirmed: interpretation is not a trend

The following are interpretations from media or academics. They are not BLS data and have not been confirmed:

• CNBC suggested that the rising share of long-term unemployment may be linked to unemployment benefits running out after 26 weeks, which could also explain why jobless-claims figures stay low.
• CNBC quoted Cory Stahle of the job site Indeed as saying monthly data are noisy but the longer-term trend is clear: the time it takes a typical job seeker to find work is now longer than the period for which benefits are paid.
• The ranking of "highest since 2021" comes from two CNBC reports, one using September 2021 as its baseline and the other late 2021, and could not be checked directly on the BLS pages.
• One month of data is not enough to prove a trend, and the BLS revises its figures; August and September were just revised up.

What job switchers can take from the numbers

CNBC quoted Richmond Fed researchers as saying the longer someone is unemployed, the harder it may be to find work, because of skills erosion, weaker networks and employers possibly treating a long gap as a negative signal. This research is known only through CNBC's account, and we have not checked the original.

The following are editorial observations, not personal advice:

• When estimating how long a job search might take, the median of 11.9 weeks reflects the typical case better than the average of 27.1 weeks, but allow for the chance of landing in the long tail.
• The longer the gap, the harder finding work may become, as in the research CNBC relayed above.
• New jobs are concentrated in sectors such as professional and business services and health care, which does not mean every role is expanding.
• These are US figures and cannot be applied directly to Hong Kong or other markets.

The data in this article run to November 2026 and rely on the BLS release of 6 November, which may be revised later. The job total tells you the market is growing; the length of unemployment tells you how crowded the doorway is. Before switching jobs, look at both.

Prices and details correct as of November 2026

Compiled by the F50 Editorial Team from public sources, for general reference only and not professional advice. Details are correct as of the publication date and may change.