US Payrolls Rise but Part-Time Work Increases
More jobs. More workers short on hours.
The U.S. added 165,000 payroll jobs in October—well above the previous 12-month average of 48,000 per month. Yet a separate household survey found 339,000 more people working part-time for economic reasons, bringing that total to 4.84 million. Broader labor underutilization (U-6) also rose from 7.6% to 7.9%.
These are different measures, not numbers to subtract. Hiring improved, but not every worker got the hours they wanted. For investors, the next question is whether fuller hours follow stronger payrolls—or whether hidden slack persists.
