Payroll Employment Rises by 210,000 in November; Unemployment Rate Declines to 4.2%

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 210,000 in November, and the unemployment rate
fell by 0.4 percentage point to 4.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
today. Notable job gains occurred in professional and business services, transportation
and warehousing, construction, and manufacturing. Employment in retail trade declined over
the month.

This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures
labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment
survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information
about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical
Note.

Household Survey Data

The unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 4.2 percent in November. The number
of unemployed persons fell by 542,000 to 6.9 million. Both measures are down considerably
from their highs at the end of the February-April 2020 recession. However, they remain above
their levels prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (3.5 percent and 5.7 million,
respectively, in February 2020). 

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 persons on temporary
layoff decreased by 255,000 to 801,000 in November. This measure is down from the high of
18.0 million in April 2020 and has nearly returned to its February 2020 level of 750,000.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more), at 2.2 million,
changed little in November but is 1.1 million higher than in February 2020. The long-term
unemployed accounted for 32.1 percent of the total unemployed in November. 

The labor force participation rate edged up to 61.8 percent in November. The participation
rate is 1.5 percentage points lower than in February 2020. The employment-population ratio
increased by 0.4 percentage point to 59.2 percent in November. This measure is up from its
low of 51.3 percent in April 2020 but remains below the figure of 61.1 percent in February
2020. 

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.3 million, changed
little in November. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment,
were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find
full-time jobs. This figure was about the same as in February 2020. 

The number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job was 5.9 million in 
November, little changed over the month but up by 849,000 since February 2020. These
individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for
work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job. 

Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of persons marginally 
attached to the labor force was little changed at 1.6 million in November. These individuals
wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12
months but had not looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of
discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were
available for them, was essentially unchanged over the month at 450,000. 

Household Survey Supplemental Data

In November, the share of employed persons who teleworked because of the coronavirus
pandemic declined by 0.3 percentage point to 11.3 percent. These data refer to employed
persons who teleworked or worked at home for pay at some point in the 4 weeks preceding
the survey specifically because of the pandemic.

In November, 3.6 million persons 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 4 weeks preceding the survey due to the pandemic.
This measure was little different from the level of 3.8 million in October. 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 changed from the prior month.

Among those not in the labor force in November, 1.2 million persons were prevented from
looking for work due to the pandemic, little changed from October. (To be counted as
unemployed, by definition, individuals must be either actively looking for work or on
temporary layoff.)

These supplemental data come from questions added to the household survey beginning in
May 2020 to help gauge the effects of the pandemic on the labor market. The data are not
seasonally adjusted. Tables with estimates from the supplemental questions for all months
are available here. 

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 210,000 in November. 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. (See table B-1. See the box note at the end of
this news release for more information about how the establishment survey and its measures
were affected by the coronavirus pandemic.)

Professional and business services added 90,000 jobs in November. Job gains continued in
administrative and waste services (+42,000), although employment in its temporary help
services component changed little (+6,000). 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 gains of a similar magnitude
in the prior 2 months. In November, 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 115,000 below its February 2020 level. 

Manufacturing added 31,000 jobs in November. Job gains occurred in miscellaneous durable
goods manufacturing (+10,000) and fabricated metal products (+8,000), while motor vehicles
and parts lost jobs (-10,000). Employment in machinery declined by 6,000, largely reflecting
a strike. 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. Job growth occurred in securities, commodity contracts,
and investments in November (+9,000). 

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.

Employment in leisure and hospitality changed little in November (+23,000), following 
large gains earlier in the year. Leisure and hospitality has added 2.4 million jobs thus
far in 2021, but employment in the industry is down by 1.3 million, or 7.9 percent, since
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
down by 450,000 since February 2020, with nursing and residential care facilities
accounting for nearly all of the loss. 

In November, employment showed little change in other major industries, including mining,
wholesale trade, information, other services, and public and private education. 

In November, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls
increased by 8 cents to $31.03. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have
increased by 4.8 percent. In November, average hourly earnings of private-sector 
production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 12 cents to $26.40. 

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour
to 34.8 hours in November. In manufacturing, the average workweek edged up by 0.1 hour
to 40.4 hours, and overtime was unchanged at 3.2 hours. The average workweek for
production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at
34.1 hours. 

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for September was revised up by 67,000,
from +312,000 to +379,000, and the change for October was revised up by 15,000, from
+531,000 to +546,000. With these revisions, employment in September and October combined
is 82,000 higher than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional
reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published 
estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors.)