Payrolls continued to grow in the United States in October, although the unemployment rate also edged up.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 150,000 and the jobless rate ticked up a tenth of a point to 3.9 percent, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Initial estimates for payroll gains for the previous two months were revised down a total of 101,000 to 297,000 for September and 165,000 for August.

With the latest numbers, payrolls have increased on average 250,000 a month over the past year.

For October, 6.5 million people were counted among those unsuccessfully looking for work. Of those, 1.3 million have been out of work 27 weeks or more. Another 4.3 million people were counted among those working part time because their hours were cut or they were unable to find full-time positions.

The labor participation rate — the proportion of the population either working or looking for work — slipped a tenth of a point to 62.7 percent.

Payroll gains for October were spread out among industry sectors. Employment increased 58,000 in health care, 23,000 in construction and 19,000 each in social assistance and leisure and hospitality. Government payrolls increased 51,000 to return to its level in February 2020 before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. Payrolls declined 35,000 in manufacturing, most of that because of a strike in the automotive industry.

The average workweek for employees on private, nonfarm payrolls edged down a tenth of an hour to 34.4 hours. The manufacturing workweek held steady at 40 hours.

Average hourly earnings for employees on private, nonfarm payrolls rose 7 cents to $34. Over the past year, average hourly earnings increased  4.1 percent.