The Bureau of Labor Statistics latest report should bode well for President Obama with the US unemployment rate for October remaining virtually unchanged at 7.9 percent, with the economy adding 171,000 jobs. Bad news for the black community, which saw unemployment ticking up to 14.3 percent. The jobless rate for whites came in at seven percent for October and 10 percent for Hispanics. Asians continue to have the lowest unemployment rate at 4.9 percent.

This is good news for President Obama, who can make the case that we have had 32 months of improvement on the jobs front. Here are where the jobs were created in October:

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 171,000 in October. Employment growth has averaged 157,000 per month thus far in 2012, about the same as the average monthly gain of 153,000 in 2011. In October, employment rose in professional and business services, health care, and retail trade. (See table B-1.)

Professional and business services added 51,000 jobs in October, with gains in services to buildings and dwellings (+13,000) and in computer systems design (+7,000). Temporary help employment changed little in October and has shown little net change over the past 3 months. Employment in professional and business services has grown by 1.6 million since its most recent low point in September 2009.

Health care added 31,000 jobs in October. Job gains continued in ambulatory health care services (+25,000) and hospitals (+6,000). Over the past year, employment in health care has risen by 296,000.

Retail trade added 36,000 jobs in October, with gains in motor vehicles and parts dealers (+7,000), and in furniture and home furnishings stores (+4,000). Retail trade has added 82,000 jobs over the past 3 months, with most of the gain occurring in motor vehicles and parts dealers, clothing and accessories stores, and miscellaneous store retailers.

Employment in leisure and hospitality continued to trend up (+28,000) over the month. This industry has added 811,000 jobs since a recent low point in January 2010, with most of the gain occurring in food services. Employment in construction edged up in October. The gain was concentrated in specialty trade contractors (+17,000).

Manufacturing employment changed little in October. On net, manufacturing employment has shown little change since April.

This was cross-posted from The Hinterland Gazette.