Employment in the U.S. declined by 11,000 in November. In the prior three months job losses had averaged over 135,000 each month*. The national unemployment rate edged down to 10.0 percent, from 10.2 percent in October. Still, there were 15.4 million unemployed persons throughout the nation in November.
Contruction employment declined by 27,000 over the month, while manufacturing employment fell by 41,000. The information industry also shed 9,000 jobs over the month.
Employment in the professional and business services industry rose by 86,000 in November, with temporary help services adding the bulk of these jobs. Also known as "temp firms" these employers contract to provide workers to other businesses. It is likely that some of this year's holiday hiring is being contracted through temporary help service firms. Health care also added 21,000 jobs over the month.
The average workweek for non-supervisory workers rose by 0.2 hour to 32.2 hours. Many firms, especially in the manufacturing sector, will increase their workers' hours earlier in the recovery from a recession - choosing to hire new employees only after their current workforce is fully utilized.
* These figures are nonfarm payroll employment
Read the full BLS News Release for more information.
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