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                            Statement of

                          Erica L. Groshen
                            Commissioner
                     Bureau of Labor Statistics

                       Friday, December 5, 2014


	Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 321,000 in November, 
and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.8 percent. The 
increase in employment was widespread, led by gains in 
professional and business services, retail trade, health care, 
and manufacturing.

	Incorporating revisions for September and October, which
increased total nonfarm payroll employment by 44,000, monthly 
job increases have averaged 278,000 over the past 3 months. In 
the 12 months prior to November, employment growth averaged 
224,000 per month.

	Employment in professional and business services rose by 
86,000 in November. Within the industry, accounting and 
bookkeeping services added 16,000 jobs. Employment continued to 
trend up in temporary help services (+23,000), management and 
technical consulting (+7,000), computer systems design (+7,000), 
and architectural and engineering services (+5,000). Over the 
year, employment in professional and business services has 
increased by 696,000.

	Retail trade employment grew by 50,000 in November. Job 
gains occurred in motor vehicle and parts dealers (+11,000); 
clothing and accessories stores (+11,000); sporting goods, 
hobby, book, and music stores (+9,000); and nonstore retailers 
(+6,000). Employment in retail trade has increased by 290,000 
over the year.

	Health care added 29,000 jobs in November, and employment 
is up by 261,000 over the year. In November, employment 
continued to trend up in offices of physicians (+7,000), home 
health care services (+5,000), outpatient care centers 
(+4,000), and hospitals (+4,000).

  	Employment in manufacturing grew by 28,000 in November. 
Durable goods employment accounted for 17,000 of the increase. 
In nondurable goods, plastics and rubber products added 7,000 
jobs. Over the past 12 months, manufacturing added 171,000 jobs, 
largely in durable goods.

	Financial activities employment rose by 20,000 in November 
and by 114,000 over the year. Within the industry, insurance 
carriers and related activities gained 10,000 jobs in November 
and 70,000 jobs over the year.

	Transportation and warehousing added 17,000 jobs in 
November, including 5,000 jobs in couriers and messengers. 
Employment continued to trend up in food services and drinking 
places (+27,000) and in construction (+20,000).

	Average hourly earnings of all employees on private 
nonfarm payrolls rose by 9 cents to $24.66 in November. Over the 
12 months ending in November, average hourly earnings grew by 
2.1 percent, in line with the recent trend in the series. From 
October 2013 to October 2014, the Consumer Price Index for All 
Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 1.7 percent.

	Turning to the survey of households, the unemployment rate 
held at 5.8 percent in November, and the number of unemployed 
persons was about unchanged at 9.1 million. The number of 
unemployed persons who had been jobless for 27 weeks or more was 
little changed at 2.8 million. These individuals accounted for 
30.7 percent of the unemployed.

      Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.8 percent, 
and the employment-population ratio, at 59.2 percent, were flat 
in November. The labor force participation rate has been 
essentially unchanged since April. The employment-population 
ratio is up by 0.6 percentage point over the year. 

      Among the employed in November, the number of people 
working part time for economic reasons, at 6.9 million, changed 
little over the month. (These individuals, also referred to as 
involuntary part-time workers, would have preferred full-time 
employment, but had their hours cut or were unable to find full-
time work.)

      Among people who were neither working nor looking for work 
in November, 2.1 million were classified as marginally attached 
to the labor force, essentially unchanged over the year. (These 
individuals had not 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 698,000 in November, little 
changed over the year.

      In summary, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 
321,000 in November, and the unemployment rate held at 5.8 
percent.