November Employment Numbers
Payroll employment increases by 199,000 in November; unemployment rate edges down to 3.7%
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 199,000 in November, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.7 percent. Job gains occurred in health care and government. Employment also increased in manufacturing, reflecting the return of workers from a strike. Employment in retail trade...
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 199,000 in November. Employment growth is below the
average monthly gain of 240,000 over the prior 12 months but is in line with job growth in recent
months. In November, job gains occurred in health care and government. Employment also increased
in manufacturing, reflecting the return of workers from a strike. Employment in retail trade
declined.
In November, health care added 77,000 jobs, above the average monthly gain of 54,000 over the
prior 12 months. Over the month, job gains continued in ambulatory health care services (+36,000),
hospitals (+24,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+17,000).
Government employment increased by 49,000 in November, in line with the average monthly gain of
55,000 over the prior 12 months. Employment continued to trend up in local government (+32,000)
and state government (+17,000) over the month.
Employment in manufacturing rose by 28,000 in November, reflecting an increase of 30,000 in
motor vehicles and parts as workers returned from a strike. Employment in manufacturing has
shown little net change over the year.
In November, employment in leisure and hospitality continued to trend up (+40,000), almost
entirely in food services and drinking places. Leisure and hospitality had added an average of
51,000 jobs per month over the prior 12 months.
Employment in social assistance continued to trend up in November (+16,000). The industry had
added an average of 23,000 jobs per month over the prior 12 months. Over the month, employment
continued to trend up in individual and family services (+9,000).
Retail trade employment declined by 38,000 in November and has shown little net change over the
year. Employment decreased in department stores (-19,000) and in furniture, home furnishings,
electronics, and appliance retailers (-6,000) over the month.
In November, employment in information changed little (+10,000). Motion picture and sound
recording industries added 17,000 jobs, mostly reflecting the resolution of labor disputes in
the industry. Overall, employment in the information industry has declined by 104,000 since
reaching a peak in November 2022.
Employment in transportation and warehousing changed little in November (-5,000). A job loss
in warehousing and storage (-8,000) was partially offset by a gain in air transportation
(+4,000). Employment in transportation and warehousing has declined by 61,000 since a peak
in October 2022.
Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining,
quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; construction; wholesale trade; financial activities;
professional and business services; and other services.
In November, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 12
cents, or 0.4 percent, to $34.10. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have
increased by 4.0 percent. In November, average hourly earnings of private-sector production
and nonsupervisory employees rose by 12 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $29.30.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm
payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour to
4 hours in November. In manufacturing, the average
workweek was unchanged at 40.0 hours,
and overtime remained at 2.9 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory
employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour to 33.8 hours.
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for September was revised down by 35,000, from
+297,000 to +262,000, and the change for October remained at +150,000. With these revisions,
employment in September and October combined is 35,000 lower than previously reported. (Monthly
revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since
the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors.)
