Nonfarm payrolls grew by 150,000 last month versus a downwardly revised 297,000 in September. Health care, government and social assistance fueled the rise in payrolls while other categories displayed lackluster growth or declines.
Manufacturing jobs dropped by 35,000 in October, a fall mostly attributable to the now-ended United Auto Workers strike.
Average hourly earnings climbed 0.2% in October, up 4.1% from a year ago, while earnings for nonsupervisory workers rose 0.3% for a second straight month.