Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until
8:30 a.m. (ET) Friday, December 3, 2021.
Statement of
William W. Beach
Commissioner
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Friday, December 3, 2021
Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 210,000 in November, and
the unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 4.2
percent. Notable job gains occurred in professional and business
services, transportation and warehousing, construction, and
manufacturing. Employment in retail trade declined over the
month.
Thus far this year, monthly job growth has averaged
555,000. Employment has increased by 18.5 million since April
2020 but is down by 3.9 million, or 2.6 percent, from its level
before the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in
February 2020.
Employment in professional and business services increased
by 90,000 in November. Within the industry, employment in the
professional and technical services component rose by 44,000
over the month and is 367,000 higher than in February 2020.
(Professional and technical services includes industries such as
management and technical consulting services, scientific
research and development services, and computer systems design
and related services.) Employment in the administrative and
waste services component (which includes temporary help
services) rose by 42,000 over the month but is 359,000 lower
than in February 2020. Employment in professional and business
services overall is down by 69,000 since February 2020.
Transportation and warehousing added 50,000 jobs in
November. Employment in the industry is 210,000 above its
February 2020 level. In November, employment growth was led by
couriers and messengers (+27,000) and warehousing and storage
(+9,000).
In November, job growth continued in construction
(+31,000). Employment continued to trend up in specialty trade
contractors (+13,000), construction of buildings (+10,000), and
heavy and civil engineering construction (+8,000). Construction
employment is down by 115,000 since February 2020.
Manufacturing continued to add jobs in November (+31,000).
Within the durable goods component, miscellaneous durable goods
manufacturing (+10,000), fabricated metal products (+8,000), and
electrical equipment and appliances (+3,000) gained jobs.
Employment declined in motor vehicles and parts (-10,000).
Machinery lost 6,000 jobs, largely reflecting a strike in the
industry. In the nondurable goods component, employment
increased by 16,000. Overall, manufacturing employment is
253,000 lower than in February 2020.
Employment in financial activities continued to trend up in
November (+13,000) and is 30,000 higher than in February 2020.
Over the month, job growth occurred in securities, commodity
contracts, and investments (+9,000).
Employment in retail trade declined in November (-20,000).
Job losses occurred in general merchandise stores (-20,000);
clothing and accessory stores (-18,000); and sporting goods,
hobby, book, and music stores (-9,000). These losses more than
offset gains in food and beverage stores (+9,000) and in
building material and garden supply stores (+7,000). Retail
trade employment is 176,000 lower than in February 2020.
In November, employment in leisure and hospitality changed
little (+23,000), following monthly job gains averaging 271,000
in the previous 9 months. Employment in the industry is 1.3
million, or 7.9 percent, lower than in February 2020.
Health care employment was about unchanged in November
(+2,000). Within the industry, employment in ambulatory health
care services continued to trend up (+17,000), while nursing and
residential care facilities lost 11,000 jobs. Employment in
health care is 450,000 below its February 2020 level, with
nursing and residential care facilities accounting for nearly
all of this loss.
Employment also showed little change over the month in
other major industries--including mining, wholesale trade,
information, other services, and public and private education.
In November, the average workweek for all private-sector
workers increased by 0.1 hour to 34.8 hours. The average
workweek for manufacturing edged up by 0.1 hour to 40.4 hours.
Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm
payrolls increased by 8 cents to $31.03 in November. Over the
past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 4.8
percent.
Turning to the labor market indicators from the household
survey, the unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to
4.2 percent in November. The number of unemployed people
declined by 542,000 to 6.9 million. These measures are down
considerably from their April 2020 peaks but remain above their
February 2020 levels (3.5 percent and 5.7 million,
respectively).
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for
adult men (4.0 percent), adult women (4.0 percent), Whites (3.7
percent), Blacks (6.7 percent), and Hispanics (5.2 percent)
declined in November. The jobless rates for teenagers (11.2
percent) and Asians (3.8 percent) showed little change over the
month.
Among the unemployed, the number of permanent job losers
declined by 205,000 to 1.9 million in November but is 623,000
higher than in February 2020. The number of people on temporary
layoff declined by 255,000 to 801,000 in November. This measure
is down from a peak of 18.0 million in April 2020 and has nearly
returned to its February 2020 level of 750,000.
The number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or more (often
referred to as the long-term unemployed) changed little in
November, at 2.2 million. This measure is about double its
February 2020 level. In November, the long-term unemployed
accounted for 32.1 percent of the total unemployed.
The labor force participation rate edged up to 61.8 percent
in November. This measure is 1.5 percentage points lower than in
February 2020. The employment-population ratio rose by 0.4
percentage point to 59.2 percent in November but is 1.9
percentage points lower than in February 2020.
In November, 4.3 million people were working part time for
economic reasons, little changed from the prior month. The
number of people working part time for economic reasons is down
from a peak of 10.9 million in April 2020 and is about the same
as in February 2020.
The number of people not in the labor force who currently
want a job was little changed at 5.9 million in November. This
measure is down from a peak of 9.9 million in April 2020 but
remains higher than the level of 5.0 million in February 2020.
Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number
of people marginally attached to the labor force was little
changed in November at 1.6 million. (People who are marginally
attached to the labor force had not actively looked for work in
the 4 weeks prior to the survey but wanted a job, were available
for work, and had looked for a job within the last 12 months.)
The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally
attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, was
essentially unchanged at 450,000.
As in previous months, some workers affected by the
pandemic who should have been classified as unemployed on
temporary layoff in November were instead misclassified as
employed but not at work. Since March 2020, BLS has published an
estimate of what the unemployment rate would have been had
misclassified workers been included among the unemployed.
Repeating this same approach, the seasonally adjusted November
unemployment rate would have been 0.1 percentage point higher
than reported. Additional information about the
misclassification, as well as response rates for both the
household and establishment surveys, is available on the BLS
website at www.bls.gov/covid19/employment-situation-covid19-faq-
november-2021.htm.
Looking at supplemental pandemic-related measures from the
household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally
adjusted), the share of employed people who teleworked because
of the coronavirus pandemic was 11.3 percent in November, down
from 11.6 percent in October. These data refer only to employed
people who teleworked or worked from home for pay at some point
in the last 4 weeks specifically because of the pandemic; they
do not include all instances of telework.
In November, the number of people who reported that they
had been unable to work because their employer closed or lost
business due to the pandemic--that is, they did not work at all
or worked fewer hours at some point in the last 4 weeks due to
the pandemic--changed little at 3.6 million. Among those who
reported in November that they were unable to work because of
pandemic-related closures or lost business, 15.8 percent
received at least some pay from their employer for the hours not
worked, little different from the prior month.
Among those not in the labor force in November, 1.2 million
people were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic,
little changed from October. (To be counted as unemployed, by
definition, individuals must either be actively searching for
work or on temporary layoff.)
In summary, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 210,000 in
November, and the unemployment rate declined to 4.2 percent.
United States Department of Labor
