The
U.S. Labor Department announced on Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased by 210,000
in November after an upwardly revised 546,000 advance (from 531,000) in the
prior month. This was the smallest monthly advance so far this year.
According
to the report, professional and business services (+90,000), transportation and
warehousing (+50,000), construction (+31,000), and manufacturing (+31,000) recorded
the largest job gains in November, while retail trade (-20,000) registered a noticeable
decline.
The
unemployment rate dropped to 4.2 percent in November from 4.6 percent in October.
This was the lowest rate since February 2020. Still, the rate remained above its
pre-crisis level of about 3.5 percent.
Economists
had forecast the nonfarm payrolls to rise by 550,000 and the jobless rate to slip
to 4.5 percent.
The
labor force participation rate increased to 61.8 percent in November from 61.6
percent in the previous month, while hourly earnings for private-sector workers
rose 0.3 percent m-o-m (or $0.08) to $31.03, following an unrevised 0.4
percent m-o-m gain in October. Economists had forecast the average hourly
earnings to go up 0.4 percent m-o-m in November. Over the year, the average
hourly earnings climbed 4.8 percent in November, the same pace as in October.
The
average workweek edged up 0.1 hour to 34.8 hours last month, being slightly above
economists' forecast for 34.7 hours.