The Employment Situation: October 1994 — 1994-11-04

The nation's job market continued to improve in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The unemployment rate was little changed over the month but, at 5.8 percent, is nearly a full percentage point below the January level. Nonfarm payroll employment--as measured by the survey of employers--rose by 194,000 in October, including a substantial gain in factory jobs. Both average earnings and the overall workweek in the private sector rose markedly over the month. Total employment--as measured by the household survey-- experienced its third consecutive large increase, after rising modestly earlier in the year. Both the number of persons unemployed (7.6 million) and the unemployment rate (5.8 percent) were little changed in October, after seasonal adjustment. Since January, the unemployment level has dropped by 1.1 million and the rate by 0.9 percentage point.