October 2020 Economic Report

Despite the loss of 268,000 government jobs due to the dismissal of 2020 Census contract workers, the October 2020 Economic Report shows 638,000 jobs added to the U.S. economy. These job gains are strong but weak in comparison to August (1.4 million), July (1.8 million), June (4.8 million), and May (2.5 million). After 6 months of declining, the unemployment rate at 6.9% is still about twice its February level at 3.5%.

Amtec Tip of the Month

Between the pandemic, the election, injustices, riots, fires, hurricanes, homeschooling, and Zoom calls, there’s a lot of stress going around. A recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that nearly half (53%) of Americans report that the pandemic is having a serious impact on their mental health. Kaiser also reported additional negative behavioral effects, such as difficulty sleeping (36%) and eating (32%), increases in excessive alcohol consumption or substance abuse (12%), and worsening chronic conditions (12%). 

As a manager, it’s important to be up to speed with your employees’ stress levels. Here are some of the signs of stress to watch for. Pay close attention when you are interacting with your team members for any signals that stress is affecting their work-life negatively.

• Irritation
• Anger
• Uncertainty
• Nervousness
• Anxiety
• Tiredness
• Lack of motivation
• Sadness 
• Depression 
• Trouble concentrating

For information on how to deal with your employees’ stress read more here.

Additional Information

If you’re unable to view our October 2020 Economic Report or would like additional information, read below:

• The unemployment rate declined by 1% to 6.9% in October. The number of unemployed persons fell by 1.5 million to 11.1 million. After 6 months of declining, unemployment is still about twice its February level.

• Total employment increased by 638,000 in October after rising by 672,000 in September.

• Leisure and hospitality added 271,000 jobs.
• Professional and business services added 208,000 jobs.
• Retail trade added 103,700 jobs.
• Construction added 84,000 jobs.
• Transportation and warehousing added 63,200 jobs.
• Education and health services added 57,000 jobs.
• Other services added 47,000 jobs.
• Manufacturing added 38,000 jobs.
• Financial activities added 31,000 jobs.
• Wholesale trade added 6,400 jobs.
• Mining and logging added 1,000 jobs.
• Utilities lost 1,500 jobs.
• Information lost 3,000 jobs.
• The government lost 268,000 jobs.

• Average hourly earnings for all employees rose by 4¢ to $29.50.

Note: Data below represents changes from different months.

• Job openings dropped 3.1% in August to 6.5 million openings.

• Dow Jones dropped 5.2% in October with a high of 28,957.9 points and a low of 26,143.77 points.

• Housing starts dropped by 2% to 1,415,000 in September.

• Consumer price index rose 0.2% in September.

• The federal prime rate remained at 3.25% in October after dropping from 4.25% in March.

• Retail inventories rose 0.4% in August to $597 billion.

• Manufacturing hours worked per week rose 0.75% to an average of 40.5 hours in September.

• Manufacturing new orders rose by 1.1% to $475 billion in September.

The information for this report was developed using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, Yahoo Finance, and FedPrimeRate.com.