The U.S. economy added 227,000 jobs in November

Although the October jobs report was stormy, the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was a rainbow showing signs of a healthy economy.

The U.S. economy added 227,000 jobs in November – beating economists’ expectations of 215,000 job gains. Equally encouraging, September and October job gains were revised upward by a combined 56,000 jobs.

The Retail industry accounted for significant losses (-28,000 jobs) after accounting for seasonal adjustments.

Healthcare (+54,000) once again led job gains along with Leisure and Hospitality (+53,000) which bounced back after the previous month’s hurricanes. Government (+33,000), Professional Business Services (+26,000), Transportation Equipment Manufacturing ( +32,000), Social Assistance (+19,000), and Financial Activities (+17,000) also had significant employment gains.

Other industries, such as Construction, Wholesale Trade, Mining, Information, and Transportation/Warehousing, showed little change over the previous month.

Average hourly earnings for all employees increased by .4% again in November bringing the 12-month average increase to 4% over the previous year. The average workweek for all employees remained at 34.3 hours.

The labor force participation rate declined slightly from (62.6% to 62.5%) as did the number of people employed part time who would have preferred full-time employment (4.6 to 4.5 million). The unemployment rate changed little at 4.2%.

On Snagajob, overall job postings were up 1% month over month and up 35% year over year. Warehouse & Production (+41%) led the gains over October along with Customer Service (+15%), Social Services (+13%), Installation & Repair (+12%), Legal (+11%), and Other industries (+6%).

Declines in job postings were driven by Retail (-50%), Transportation (-15%) Food & Restaurant (-9%) and Hotel & Hospitality (-18%) industries.

Here’s your roundup of key insights from the report:

CNN - With November’s gains, the US has added jobs for 47 consecutive months, making it the third-longest period of employment expansion on record.

USA Today - Even before the hurricanes and strikes, U.S. job growth was slowing from a monthly average of 267,000 in the first quarter. An immigration surge fueling labor force growth has downshifted substantially following a Biden administration clampdown at the southern border.

JP Morgan - Average hourly earnings increased by a stronger 0.4% month-over-month and 4% year-over-year, but a broader set of wage indicators, such as job openings, continue to show slow normalization over time.

New York Times - The low retail number — a subtraction of 28,000 jobs, seasonally adjusted — may reflect movement toward online sales at the start of the holiday season. Employment related to e-commerce often shows up in the transportation and warehousing category, which has been recovering after a post-pandemic dip

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Overall Snagajob Hourly Jobs

All industry data is from 1/1/2023-11/30/2024

Here are the latest overall job numbers:

Overall hourly jobs are up 1% month over month, and up 35% year over year.