October sees increase of 261,000 nonfarm payroll jobs

The U.S. economy added 261,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.7 percent. In addition, the employment totals for August and September were revised to 292,000 and 315,000, respectively, for a total increase of 29,000 jobs.

By employment category, the strongest gains were in healthcare, which increased by 53,000 jobs, and professional and technical services, which added 43,000 jobs. Gains were also seen in leisure and hospitality (35,000 jobs), manufacturing (32,000 jobs), social assistance (19,000 jobs) and wholesale trade (15,000 jobs).

Wage growth is showing signs of deceleration. Average hourly earnings are up 4.7 percent year-over-year, but looking at the past three months on an annualized basis (for com