Key Points:
- Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 263,000 in November as the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7%.
- Consensus among economists was a gain of 200,000 jobs.
- In November, the unemployed population held steady at 6 million but there were 10.3 million job openings in October.
- Leisure and hospitality added 88,000 jobs in November, employment in health care rose by 45,000, Government added 42,000 jobs, construction added 20,000, and manufacturing added 14,000 jobs.
- In November, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by $0.18 to $32.82.
- The average workweek for all private employees fell by 0.1 hours to 34.4.
- The labor force participation rate decreased slightly over the month to 62.1% and is 1.3% below its February 2020 level.