Food services and drinking places also serve up growth for the month.
By Andrew Carlo
The U.S. economy added 227,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in November, according to the latest Employment Situation Report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Leisure and hospitality positions showed growth along with food services and drinking places as the unemployment rate increased to 4.2% compared to 4.1% in October. The overall number of unemployed people is at 7.1 million for November compared to nearly 7 million in the prior month. A year ago, the unemployment rate stood at 3.6% with total unemployed people sitting at a total of 6.3 million.
Employment in leisure and hospitality rose by 53,000 positions in November. This arrives after growth of just 2,000 jobs in the prior month. Food services and drinking places added 29,000 jobs.
In contrast, the retail trade lost 28,000 jobs in November and has demonstrated little net employment change over the past 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Last month, employment declined in general merchandise retailers by about 15,000 jobs as electronics and appliance retailers added 4,000 positions.
Health care and government demonstrated the largest gains for November, adding 54,000 and 33,000 positions.
The overall employment situation report for September 2024 was revised upward to 255,000 new jobs from the previously reported 223,000 positions. The October report was revised by 24,000 jobs to 36,000 additions compared with a previously reported addition of just 12,000 jobs for the month.
Average hourly earnings rose by 13 cents, or 0.4 percent, in November to $35.61. The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours in November.
The complete jobs report for November 2024 can be found here.
