The Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data shows that the American job market picked up slightly in November, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.2%.
According to the report, the U.S. added 227,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in November after the labor market faltered in October due to the Boeing strike and Hurricane Milton’s aftermath.
The report includes revisions to October’s job gain to 36,000 from an initially reported 12,000, while the reported hiring gains in September and October were revised to a combined 56,000 jobs.
“The latest jobs data says the labor market is still going strong,” Senior Economist with the Economic Policy Institute Elise Gould posted on X. “After the softer numbers in October from the weather and striking workers, November bounces back with strong job growth along with upward revisions. On average, the economy added 173k jobs the last 3 months”
The average hourly earnings for all employees in nonfarm payrolls rose 0.4% to $35.61, and those for private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose 0.3% to $30.57.
Unemployment reached 4.2%, an uptick compared to October’s 4.1%, and the unemployment rate for women rose to 4.2%, the highest level since February 2022.
The data is gathered from two monthly surveys. The household survey covers labor force status and unemployment by demographic characteristics. The second survey, known as the establishment survey, covers nonfarm employment hours and earnings by industry.
The 7.1 million unemployed people changed slightly in November. This number was higher than a year earlier when the jobless rate was 3.7%, and the number of unemployed was 6.3 million.
Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate, at 62.5%, showed a slight change in November from 62.5% to 62.7%, which it has maintained since December 2023.
Part-time employment changed slightly, to 4.5 million in November, an uptick from the 4 million reported in the previous year.
The report states that “These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part-time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.”
There were 5.5 million people reported in November who were not in the workforce but currently want a job. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they hadn’t actively looked for work in the weeks leading up to the survey.
The establishment survey showed that health care added 72,300 jobs, hospitality 53,000, while retail lost 28,000 jobs in November.
The average workweek for nonfarm employees kicked up one hour to 34.3 hours, and the manufacturing average workweek was 40 hours. Overtime increased to 2.9 hours.
The Federal Reserve confirmed a quarter-point interest rate cut in November, lowering the target range from 4.5% to 4.75%. This is the second cut made in 2024. The Federal Reserve will meet later this month.
