The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) this morning reported disappointing numbers in payroll jobs in the U.S. for the month of November. Nonfarm payroll jobs grew by 39,000 in the month, including 50,000 new jobs in the private sector, but overall unemployment in the month grew to 9.8%.
Analysts had overall estimated unemployment to remain at 9.6% or tick up to 9.7% as the participation rate grows as Americans begin to re-enter the workforce. So although 9.8% unemployment — the highest since April this year — is a disappointment, far worse in the headline is the 39,000 figure. Nonfarm payroll jobs were expected to gain around 144,000 — over three-times as many — for the month.
Though the holiday shopping season is officially underway, Retail hiring fell by 28,000 in November. Manufacturing dropped another 13,000 jobs. Healthcare added 19,000, which is consistent with trends throughout the economic downturn of the past few years. Temporary jobs grew by 40,000 in the month.
An additional disappointment is the report that there was no change to hourly earnings in November, signaling stagnation among those Americans who are employed. The average workweek was likewise unchanged, at 34.3 hours.
Looking for good news? There wasn’t much. BLS numbers for September and October were revised upward by 38,000 jobs, and October’s revised number totaled +172,000 — better than the 151,000 jobs originally reported. But even combined with the 39,000 jobs added in November, these results do not come close to meeting expectations for a growing labor force.
There are now 15.1 million unemployed Americans, and nearly 42% of these have been out of work 6 months or longer. The labor force grew by 103,000 workers — indicating an improvement in the jobs outlook among workers — but the number of unemployed actually grew by 276,000 for the month.
Dirk van Dijk, CFA will be along later today with an in-depth account of these disappointing numbers. Futures before Friday’s market opening are down, and the rate on the 10-year T-bill has fallen beneath 3% on the news.
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