Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 263,000 in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Total unemployed persons was relatively unchanged 6.0 million in November, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7%.
Job growth was notable in leisure and hospitality, health care, and government.
In November, leisure and hospitality added 88,000 jobs in line with the average monthly job gain in the first 11 months of the year. However, employment in leisure and hospitality is below its pre-pandemic February 2020 level by 980,000, or 5.8 percent.
Employment in professional and business services changed little in November (+6,000). Within the industry, professional and technical services added 28,000 jobs, while business support services lost 11,000 jobs. Monthly job growth in professional and business services has averaged 58,000 thus far in 2022, down from 94,000 per month in 2021.
In November, employment in health care rose by 45,000, with gains in ambulatory health care services (+23,000), hospitals (+11,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+10,000). So far in 2022, health care employment has increased by an average of 47,000 per month, well above the 2021 average monthly gain of 9,000.
Read the BLS release.
