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Payroll employment up 210,000 in November 2021

December 07, 2021

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 210,000 in November 2021. Thus far this year, monthly job growth has averaged 555,000. Nonfarm employment has increased by 18.5 million since April 2020 but is down by 3.9 million, or 2.6 percent, from its pre-pandemic level in February 2020. In November, notable job gains occurred in professional and business services, transportation and warehousing, construction, and manufacturing. Employment in retail trade declined over the month.

 Employment change by industry, October 2021 to November 2021
Industry Employment change

Mining and logging

-2,000

Logging

-200

Mining

-1,600

Oil and gas extraction

-1,200

Mining, except oil and gas

100

Coal mining

-300

Metal ore mining

200

Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying

200

Support activities for mining

-500

Construction

31,000

Construction of buildings

10,000

Residential building

4,100

Nonresidential building

5,900

Heavy and civil engineering construction

8,100

Specialty trade contractors

13,000

Residential specialty trade contractors

6,200

Nonresidential specialty trade contractors

6,800

Manufacturing

31,000

Durable goods

15,000

Wood products

2,000

Nonmetallic mineral products

2,700

Primary metals

700

Fabricated metal products

7,900

Machinery

-6,000

Computer and electronic products

-1,300

Computer and peripheral equipment

400

Communications equipment

-600

Semiconductors and electronic components

-600

Electronic instruments

-600

Miscellaneous computer and electronic products

0

Electrical equipment and appliances

3,300

Transportation equipment

-3,800

Motor vehicles and parts

-10,100

Furniture and related products

-300

Miscellaneous durable goods manufacturing

10,000

Nondurable goods

16,000

Food manufacturing

7,400

Textile mills

600

Textile product mills

-100

Apparel

800

Paper and paper products

2,200

Printing and related support activities

-100

Petroleum and coal products

0

Chemicals

0

Plastics and rubber products

1,600

Miscellaneous nondurable goods manufacturing

3,500

Wholesale trade

8,000

Durable goods

8,000

Nondurable goods

-100

Electronic markets and agents and brokers

100

Retail trade

-20,400

Motor vehicle and parts dealers

1,100

Automobile dealers

200

Other motor vehicle dealers

200

Auto parts, accessories, and tire stores

700

Furniture and home furnishings stores

-300

Electronics and appliance stores

-1,300

Building material and garden supply stores

7,300

Food and beverage stores

8,600

Health and personal care stores

4,400

Gasoline stations

2,300

Clothing and clothing accessories stores

-17,700

Sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores

-8,900

General merchandise stores

-20,400

Department stores

-7,500

General merchandise stores, including warehouse clubs and supercenters

-12,900

Miscellaneous store retailers

300

Nonstore retailers

4,200

Transportation and warehousing

49,700

Air transportation

3,400

Rail transportation

300

Water transportation

500

Truck transportation

5,600

Transit and ground passenger transportation

-900

Pipeline transportation

200

Scenic and sightseeing transportation

2,500

Support activities for transportation

2,500

Couriers and messengers

26,800

Warehousing and storage

8,800

Utilities

-400

Information

-2,000

Publishing industries, except Internet

900

Motion picture and sound recording industries

-3,400

Broadcasting, except Internet

-500

Telecommunications

-2,700

Data processing, hosting and related services

-200

Other information services

4,100

Financial activities

13,000

Finance and insurance

9,300

Monetary authorities - central bank

100

Credit intermediation and related activities

-2,100

Depository credit intermediation

-2,600

Commercial banking

-2,700

Nondepository credit intermediation

-100

Activities related to credit intermediation

600

Securities, commodity contracts, investments, and funds and trusts

8,800

Insurance carriers and related activities

2,500

Real estate and rental and leasing

3,400

Real estate

4,900

Rental and leasing services

-1,400

Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets

-100

Professional and business services

90,000

Professional and technical services

43,800

Legal services

2,700

Accounting and bookkeeping services

7,600

Architectural and engineering services

2,000

Specialized design services

1,000

Computer systems design and related services

9,500

Management and technical consulting services

12,000

Scientific research and development services

3,300

Advertising and related services

1,600

Other professional and technical services

4,300

Management of companies and enterprises

3,900

Administrative and waste services

41,600

Administrative and support services

42,400

Office administrative services

3,900

Facilities support services

-400

Employment services

23,700

Temporary help services

6,200

Business support services

5,700

Travel arrangement and reservation services

-1,700

Investigation and security services

700

Services to buildings and dwellings

10,400

Other support services

200

Waste management and remediation services

-800

Education and health services

4,000

Educational services

-2,300

Health care

2,100

Ambulatory health care services

17,000

Offices of physicians

2,400

Offices of dentists

3,800

Offices of other health practitioners

6,800

Outpatient care centers

2,500

Medical and diagnostic laboratories

500

Home health care services

-300

Other ambulatory health care services

1,300

Hospitals

-3,900

Nursing and residential care facilities

-11,000

Nursing care facilities

-8,400

Residential mental health facilities

-1,100

Community care facilities for the elderly

-1,900

Other residential care facilities

400

Social assistance

3,600

Individual and family services

3,700

Emergency and other relief services

1,300

Vocational rehabilitation services

700

Child day care services

-2,100

Leisure and hospitality

23,000

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

5,100

Performing arts and spectator sports

7,500

Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions

-300

Amusements, gambling, and recreation

-2,100

Accommodation and food services

17,600

Accommodation

6,600

Food services and drinking places

11,000

Other services

10,000

Repair and maintenance

10,100

Personal and laundry services

-5,000

Membership associations and organizations

4,700

Government

-25,000

Federal

2,000

Federal, except U.S. Postal Service

-2,300

U.S. Postal Service

4,700

State government

-9,000

State government education

-3,000

State government, excluding education

-6,100

Local government

-18,000

Local government education

-12,600

Local government, excluding education

-4,500

Professional and business services added 90,000 jobs in November. Job gains continued in administrative and waste services (+42,000). Job growth also continued in management and technical consulting services (+12,000) and in computer system design and related services (+10,000). Employment in professional and business services overall is 69,000 below its level in February 2020.

Employment in transportation and warehousing increased by 50,000 in November and is 210,000 above its February 2020 level. In November, job gains occurred in couriers and messengers (+27,000) and in warehousing and storage (+9,000).

Construction employment rose by 31,000 in November, following similar gains in the prior 2 months. Construction employment is 115,000 below its February 2020 level. Manufacturing added 31,000 jobs in November. Manufacturing employment is down by 253,000 since February 2020. Employment in financial activities continued to trend up in November (+13,000) and is 30,000 above its February 2020 level.

Employment in retail trade declined by 20,000 in November, with job losses in general merchandise stores (−20,000); clothing and clothing accessories stores (−18,000); and sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores (−9,000). These losses were partially offset by job 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.

Change in employment by industry, February 2020 to November 2021
Industry Change in employment Percent change February 2020 employment November 2021 employment

Leisure and hospitality

-1,334,000 -7.9 16,915,000 15,581,000

Government

-935,000 -4.1 22,835,000 21,900,000

Education and health services

-793,000 -3.2 24,565,000 23,772,000

Local government

-678,000 -4.6 14,669,000 13,991,000

State government

-273,000 -5.1 5,303,000 5,030,000

Manufacturing

-253,000 -2.0 12,799,000 12,546,000

Retail trade

-175,800 -1.1 15,609,800 15,434,000

Other services

-150,000 -2.5 5,937,000 5,787,000

Wholesale trade

-147,900 -2.5 5,895,200 5,747,300

Information

-123,000 -4.2 2,914,000 2,791,000

Construction

-115,000 -1.5 7,648,000 7,533,000

Professional and business services

-69,000 -0.3 21,469,000 21,400,000

Mining and logging

-45,000 -6.5 690,000 645,000

Utilities

-11,300 -2.1 547,400 536,100

Federal government

16,000 0.6 2,863,000 2,879,000

Financial activities

30,000 0.3 8,875,000 8,905,000

Transportation and warehousing

210,000 3.6 5,823,100 6,033,100

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent 2 months are preliminary. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — November 2021." Also see more charts of national employment, hours, and earnings data and the impact of the COVID−19 pandemic on the November data.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Payroll employment up 210,000 in November 2021 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/payroll-employment-up-210000-in-november-2021.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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