Unemployment Down to 4.6% as 178,000 Jobs Added in November

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 178,000 in November, up from October’s downwardly revised figure of 142,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national unemployment rate fell 0.3 points to 4.6%. The majority of gains occurred in professional and business services and in health care.

Private-service providing industries added a net 139,000 jobs, led by gains in professional and business services, which added 63,000 jobs during the month and 571,000 over the year, and by health care, which added 28,000 jobs this month and 407,000 over the year.

Goods-producing employment rose by 17,000 jobs during the month, as gains in construction employment led the way.

The civilian labor force participation rate was 62.7%, down slightly for the second month in a row. The number of long-term unemployed, those jobless for 27 weeks or more, decreased to 1.9 million and accounted for 24.8% of the unemployed. The number of discouraged workers was 591,000, little different from a year earlier.

Average hourly earnings declined 3 cents to $25.89. Hourly earnings have increased 2.5% over the past year.

Read the BLS release.