Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 263,000 jobs in November, following the addition of 284,000 jobs in October (upward revision), according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Average monthly job growth for the current year thus far dipped down to 392,000 (below 2021’s 562,000 average).
Employment in leisure and hospitality grows, while retail trade falls
Leisure and hospitality (+88,000) led job gains for November, with the majority (+62,000) of those jobs in food services and drinking places. Although the industry has averaged +82,000 jobs per month so far this year, it’s well below its average of 196,000 in 2021. And the industry is still behind its pre-pandemic level by 980,000 (5.8%).
Other industries with job gains over the month included:
- Health care (+45,000)
- Government (+42,000)
- Other services (+24,000)
- Social assistance (+23,000)
- Construction (+20,000)
Retail trade employment fell by 30,000 jobs in November, with much of the loss in general merchandise stores (-32,000). Temporary help services lost 17,200 jobs over the month, bringing the total number of temp jobs down to 3.1 million and the temp penetration rate down to 2.02%. Employment in transportation and warehousing also dropped in November, losing 15,000 jobs.
Unemployment rates stay still
The overall unemployment rate held steady at 3.7% in November, accounting for 6.0 million unemployed people. Since March, the unemployment rate has stayed between 3.5% and 3.7%.
Across major worker groups, unemployment rates had little or no change in November:
- Adult men: 3.4% (3.3% in October)
- Adult women: 3.3% (3.4% in October)
- Teenagers: 11.3% (11.0% in October)
- Black: 5.7% (5.9% in October)
- Hispanic: 3.9% (4.2% in October)
- Asian: 2.7% (2.9% in October)
- White: 3.2% (3.2% in October)
Job loss numbers settle
Permanent job loss rose slightly to 1.4 million in November, while temporary layoffs inched down to 803,000. Long-term unemployment (jobless for 27 weeks or more) changed little at 1.2 million (20.6% of the total unemployed), and the labor force participation rate was 62.1% for the month.
The number of people working part time for economic reasons stayed at 3.7 million in November. Among the 5.6 million people not currently in the labor force who wanted a job, 1.5 million were marginally attached to the labor force and 405,000 were considered discouraged workers.
Pay continues to increase
Average hourly earnings for private nonfarm employees rose another $0.18 (0.6%) to reach $32.82 in November, putting the 12-month increase at 5.1%. The average workweek, however, dropped slightly to 34.4 hours.
