U.S. employers added 227,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported Friday, with solid job growth reported in healthcare, leisure and hospitality, government, and social assistance industries.
Retail trade, however, lost 28,000 jobs in November after showing little net employment change over the prior 12 months. Most of that industry’s losses were general merchandise retail jobs (-15,000) and warehouse club positions (-4,800).
The nationwide gain of 227,000 jobs in November was higher than the 186,000 average monthly increase over the prior 12 months, and significantly higher than October’s upwardly revised gain of 36,000 jobs.
Meanwhile the national unemployment rate, which is based on the results of a separate survey, nudged up slightly to 4.2% in November, which is 0.1% higher than it was in October and 0.5% higher than the November 2023 rate of 3.7%.
Healthcare added 54,000 jobs in November, in line with the average monthly gain of 59,000 in that industry over the prior 12 months. Employment in leisure and hospitality trended up in November (+53,000), after little change in the prior month (+2,000).
Government hiring continued to trend up (+33,000), in line with the average monthly gain over the prior 12 months (+41,000). Most of the increase in government employment occurred at the state level.
Employment increased by 32,000 in transportation equipment manufacturing in November, reflecting the return of Boeing workers who were on strike. Overall, the manufacturing industry had a net gain of 22,000 jobs after losses in computer and electronics manufacturing, semiconductor manufacturing and other sectors were considered.
Social assistance jobs increased by 19,000 in November, in line with the average monthly gain of 18,000 over the prior 12 months. Employment showed little to no change over the month in other industries, including construction; transportation and warehousing; information; financial activities; professional and business services; and other services.
In November, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 13 cents, or 0.4%, to $35.61. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 4%. In November, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 9 cents, or 0.3%, to $30.57.
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for September was revised upward by 32,000, from to +255,000, and the change for October was revised up by 24,000 to +36,000. With these revisions, employment in September and October combined is 56,000 jobs higher than previously reported.
