Employment increased in line with experts expectations and above the average 2017 pace, according to the latest release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 228,000 in November, the report showed. This increase, while slower than October’s 261,000 jobs added, is above 2017’s average of 174,000 per month so far this year.
“After two months of volatility that we can likely attribute to hurricanes, the labor market appears healthy again and today’s data was especially strong,” said Steve Rick, CUNA Mutual Group chief economist. “This likely further solidifies the case for raising rates that Jerome Powell said in late-November was coming along.”
This increase is just above what experts were expecting. The ADP and Moody's Analytics National Employment Report forecasted job would growth will slow in November to an increase of 190,000 new jobs.
And Capital Economics Chief Economist Paul Ashworth said payroll employment will show a 200,000 increase.
Here are some of the areas which showed major changes in November:
- Employment in professional and business services increased by 46,000
- Manufacturing increased by 31,000
- Employment in health care increased by 30,000
- Employment in Construction increased 23,000
Employment in other major industries, including mining, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, leisure and hospitality and government, changed little over the month.
The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1% in November as the number of unemployed remained unchanged at 6.6 million. This is down 0.5% or 799,000 people over the year.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 34.5 hours in November.
Average hourly earnings also increased in November for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, increasing five cents to $26.55.
