U.S. Employers Added 146,000 Jobs in November

Today's employment news release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveals that U.S. payrolls rose by 146,000 jobs in November, led by gains in retail trade (+53,000), professional and business services (+43,000), and health care (+20,000). Construction employment, which has shown no clear trend since early 2010, dropped 20,000 jobs over the month. Other industries experienced little or no employment change between October and November. Monthly job growth has averaged 151,000 this year, close to last year's average monthly gains of 153,000. BLS economists note that Hurricane Sandy did not impact the quality of the survey results, although the storm did affect business payrolls in November.

According to the household survey, November's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate slid to 7.7 percent, its lowest level since January 2009. That's a 0.2 percentage point drop from October. This over-the-month drop reflects a 229,000 decline in the number of unemployed, as well as a decrease in the labor force (-350,000).

The full news release provides more information on the nation's employment situation in November.