by Calculated Risk on 11/07/2008 08:33:00 AM

From the BLS:

Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 240,000 in October, and the unemployment rate rose from 6.1 to 6.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. October's drop in payroll employment followed declines of 127,000 in August and 284,000 in September, as revised. Employment has fallen by 1.2 million in the first 10 months of 2008; over half of the decrease has occurred in the past 3 months.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the unemployment rate and the year over year change in employment vs. recessions.

Nonfarm payrolls decreased by 240,00 in October and September was revised down to a loss of 284,000 jobs. (Note: September was orginally announced as 159,000 in job losses, so this is a huge downward revision).

The unemployment rate rose to the highest level in 14 years at 6.5 percent.

Year over year employment is now negative (there are 1.1 million fewer Americans employed in Oct 2008 than in Oct 2007). This is another very weak employment report.