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Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 64,000 in November, after declining by 105,000 in October during the federal government shutdown. In sum, employment is down by 41,000 from September. Meanwhile, August and September’s job gains were revised downward by 33,000 to a loss of 26,000 jobs and a gain of 108,000 jobs, respectively. The 12-month average stands at 78,000 job gains per month. The unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points from September to 4.6% in November, the highest rate in more than four years, while the labor force participation rate inched up 0.1 percentage point to 62.5%.

Manufacturing employment slipped by 5,000 in November, the seventh consecutive month of job losses, after decreasing by 9,000 in October. On the other hand, the collective job losses in August and September of 21,000 were revised upward by 5,000 jobs to a decrease of 16,000 jobs. Manufacturing employment is down 73,000 over the year, the most of any industry. Durable goods manufacturing employment fell by 4,000 in November, while nondurable goods employment edged down by 1,000. The most significant gain in manufacturing in November occurred in electrical equipment, appliance and component manufacturing, which added 2,200 jobs over the month. Meanwhile, the most significant loss occurred in motor vehicles and parts manufacturing, which shed 4,900 jobs over the month.

The employment-population ratio ticked down 0.1 percentage point from September to 59.6% in November and is down 0.2 percentage points from a year ago. Employed persons who are part-time workers for economic reasons jumped by 909,000 from September to 5.49 million in November and are up from 4.47 million in November 2024. Native-born employment is up 114,000 from September and 2,631,000 over the year. Meanwhile, foreign-born employment is up 58,000 over the month but down 21,000 over the year. On the other hand, the native-born unemployment rate is up 0.4 percentage points over the year to 4.3% in November, while the foreign-born unemployment rate is down 0.1 percentage point to 4.4%.

Average hourly earnings for all private nonfarm payroll employees rose 0.1%, or 5 cents, reaching $36.86. Over the past year, earnings have grown 3.5%. The average workweek for all employees inched up 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours and ticked up 0.1 hour to 40.0 hours for manufacturing employees.