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- There were 199,000 US jobs added in November.
- The unemployment rate dropped as well.
- A separate data release showed US job openings this past October were at the lowest figure since March 2021.
The US added 199,000 jobs in November according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest employment report.
The forecast for nonfarm payroll employment growth was 180,000. November's growth beats October's growth.
October's growth was not revised. It was still a gain of 150,000 per the latest report. September's growth was revised from 297,000 to 262,000.
Employment in leisure and hospitality surged by 40,000. More specifically, food services and drinking places saw employment increase by 38,300. Retail trade saw an employment decline of about 38,000.
The end of the United Auto Workers strike also led to a bump in manufacturing employment for November.
"Employment in manufacturing rose by 28,000 in November, reflecting an increase of 30,000 in motor vehicles and parts as workers returned from a strike," the news release on Friday from BLS stated.
The US unemployment rate was expected to be 3.9% again. It fell to 3.7%.
The labor force participation rate rose very slightly in November, from 62.7% in October to 62.8%.
Average hourly earnings were $34.10 in November, based on the new data released. That means earnings have increased by 4.0% from November 2022's $32.80. Wage growth was also 4.0% over the year in October and has broadly been moderating. Average hourly earnings also rose 0.4% month over month after earnings were $33.98.
There were 8.7 million US job openings in October, according to Tuesday's data release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is the lowest number since March 2021. Health care and social assistance saw a pretty big drop compared to other labor market areas, with openings falling by 236,000.
The number of quits in October was pretty much the same as September at 3.6 million. The change in the number of hires was also pretty flat; hires fell by 18,000 to about 5.9 million hires in October.
Nick Bunker, economic research director for North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab, said in his Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey commentary that "the current state of the labor market suggests no further recalibration is necessary to bring the labor market back into balance." That's because he said this is already the case for the labor market.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.