Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 227,000 in November, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment trended up in health care, leisure and hospitality, government, and social assistance. Retail trade lost jobs. This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical Note. Household Survey Data – Both the unemployment rate, at 4.2 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.1 million, changed little in November. These measures are higher than a year earlier, when the jobless rate was 3.7 percent, and the number of unemployed people was 6.3 million. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for Blacks (6.4 percent) edged up in November. The jobless rates for adult men (3.9 percent), adult women (3.9 percent), teenagers (13.2 percent), Whites (3.8 percent), Asians (3.8 percent), and Hispanics (5.3 percent) showed little or no change over the month. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 1.7 million in November. This measure is up from 1.2 million a year earlier. In November, the long-term unemployed accounted for 23.2 percent of all unemployed people. The labor force participation rate, at 62.5 percent, changed little in November and has remained in a narrow range of 62.5 percent to 62.7 percent since December 2023. The employment-population ratio, at 59.8 percent, also changed little over the month but is down by 0.6 percentage point over the year. The number of people employed part time for economic reasons changed little at 4.5 million in November. This measure is up from 4.0 million a year earlier. 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. The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job, at 5.5 million, changed little in November. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job. Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor force, at 1.6 million, was unchanged in November. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, changed little at 396,000 in November.
The Employment Situation (12-06-24)
- Economic Monthly Summaries, The Employment Situation
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