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Manufacturing Sheds More Jobs in November


Manufacturing employment inched down last month, while the larger U.S. economy added jobs (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

What’s going on: Nonfarm payroll employment edged up in November by 64,000 after decreasing by 105,000 the previous month during the federal government shutdown.

  • Manufacturing jobs, meanwhile, slipped by 5,000 in November, marking the seventh consecutive month of job losses for the industry.
  • The overall unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points from September, reaching 4.6%—the highest rate in more than four years—in November.

Largest shifts: Electrical equipment, appliance and component manufacturing added 2,200 jobs last month, while motor vehicles and parts manufacturing shed 4,900 jobs.

Revisions: Overall job gains for August and September were revised downward by 33,000 to a loss of 26,000 and a gain of 108,000 roles, respectively.

  • However, manufacturing job losses for those months were revised upward by 5,000, to a decrease of 16,000 collectively.

Earnings and workweek: In November, hourly earnings for all nonfarm payroll employees increased 0.1%, or 5 cents, to $36.86. The average workweek rose 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours.

  • For manufacturing employees, the workweek also increased 0.1 hour to 40 hours.
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