Payrolls continue to increase in the United States, but at the slowest pace in nearly two years.

Nonfarm payrolls grew 261,000 in October as the national unemployment rate rose two-tenths of a point to 3.7 percent, according to the latest estimates from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The October increase was the smallest monthly job gain since December 2020.

The payroll gain for September was revised upward 52,000 to 315,000. The gain for August was revised downward 23,000 to 292,000.

With the latest numbers, payrolls have increased an average of 407,000 a month in 2022.

For October, 6.1 million people were counted among those unsuccessfully looking for work. Of those, 1.2 million have been out of work 27 weeks or longer. Another 3.7 million people were counted among those working part-time because their hours were reduced or they were unable to find full-time positions.

The labor participation rate edged down a tenth of a point to 62.2 percent, still below the rate before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

Payroll gains for October were spread out among industry sectors. Employment increased 53,000 in health care, 43,000 in professional and technical services, 35,000 in leisure and hospitality and 32,000 in manufacturing.

The average work week remained unchanged at 34.5 hours for a fifth consecutive month. The average manufacturing work week edged up a tenth of an hour to 40.4 hours.

Average hourly earnings increased 12 cents to $32.58. Hourly earnings have increased 4.7 percent over the past year.