Barron’s Investor Circle newsletter editor Josh Schafer discusses what to expect from November’s delayed jobs and inflation reports on ‘Varney & Co.’
The US economy added jobs in November as economic uncertainty continued to dampen labor market activity.
The Labor Office reported this to employers on Tuesday 64,000 jobs added in November this was a figure higher than the estimate of 50,000 from economists surveyed by LSEG.
The unemployment rate In November, interest rates rose to 4.6%, which was higher than the 4.4% expected by economists. The unemployment rate of 4.6% is the highest since September 2021.
Job growth in the two previous months in which the employment report was published were both revised downwards. August employment was revised downwards by 22,000, from a loss of 4,000 jobs to a loss of 26,000 jobs; while September was revised down by 11,000 jobs, from a gain of 119,000 jobs to 108,000 jobs.
All told, employment in August and September was 33,000 jobs lower than previously reported.
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The November jobs report was originally scheduled for release on December 5, but was postponed by the 43-day government shutdown that extended into November and affected the Bureau of Labor Statistics data collection. The shutdown also prevented the release of the October jobs report, although the BLS included some data from that month in the latest release.
Employment fell by 105,000 jobs in October, with the private sector adding 52,000 jobs and the government cutting 157,000 jobs this month. Federal workers who accepted deferred buyouts earlier this year, such as those proposed by DOGE, were counted as employees until they were officially recorded leaving their jobs in October.
BLS was unable to generate an unemployment rate for October.
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The construction sector saw notable job growth in November, after employment was little changed over the past year. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Private payrolls added 69,000 jobs in November, above the LSEG estimate of 45,000.
Government payrolls shrank by 5,000 jobs in November, following a larger decline in October. That included a loss of 6,000 federal government jobs and 2,000 local government jobs, a decline partially offset by the addition of 3,000 state government jobs.
The manufacturing sector shed 5,000 jobs in November, in line with economists’ expectations.
Healthcare companies added 46,000 jobs, largely in line with average monthly gains of 39,000 in the previous 12 months. These gains were spread across outpatient health care services (+24,000), hospitals (+11,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+11,000).
The construction sector created 28,000 jobs in November after little change over the past 12 months. Most of the job gains occurred among non-residential specialty trade contractors (+19,000).
Social assistance companies added 18,000 jobs this month, while the transportation and warehousing sector lost 18,000 jobs in November.
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The labor participation rate changed little in November at 62.5%, while little has changed in the past year.
The number of long-term unemployed, defined as those unemployed for 27 weeks or more, remained little changed at 1.9 million in November and represented 24.3% of all unemployed people.
The number of people working part-time for economic reasons was 5.5 million in November, an increase of 909,000 compared to September. These workers would have preferred a full-time job, but their hours were cut or they were unable to find full-time work.
This is a development story. Check back later for updates.
