Employment Growth Rebounds in November

Employment growth rebounded sharply in November after strike- and hurricane-related disruptions in October. The unemployment rate rose one percentage point to 4.2% after holding at 4.1% for two months in a row.

In November, wage growth remained unchanged from the previous month. Wages grew at a 4.0% year-over-year (YOY) growth rate, down 0.2 percentage points from a year ago. Wage growth is outpacing inflation, which typically occurs as productivity increases.

National Employment

According to the Employment Situation Summary reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 227,000 in November, a sharp rebound from an upwardly revised increase of 36,000 jobs in October. Since January 2021, the U.S. job market has added jobs for 47 consecutive months, making it the third-longest period of employment expansion on record.

The estimates for the previous two months were revised higher. The monthly change in total nonfarm payroll employment for September was revised up by 32,000, from +223,000 to +255,000, while the change for October was revised up by 24,000 from +12,000 to +36,000. Combined, the revisions were 56,000 higher than previously reported.

In the first eleven months of 2024, 1,984,000 jobs were created. Additionally, monthly employment growth averaged 180,000 per month, compared to the 251,000 monthly average gain for 2023. The U.S. economy has created more than 8 million jobs since March 2022, when the Fed enacted the first interest rate hike of this cycle.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% in November, marking the seventh month that the unemployment rate has been at or above 4.0%. While the number of employed persons decreased by 355,000, the number of unemployed persons rose by 161,000.

Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate—the proportion of the population either looking for a job or already holding a job—decreased by one percentage point to 62.5%. However, for people aged between 25 and 54, the participation rate remained at 83.5% for the second straight month. While the overall labor force participation rate remains below its pre-pandemic levels of 63.3% at the beginning of 2020, the rate for people aged between 25 and 54 exceeds the pre-pandemic level of 83.1%.

In November, employment continued to trend up in health care (+54,000), leisure and hospitality (+53,000), government (+33,000), and social assistance (+19,000). Employment in transportation equipment manufacturing increased in November as workers who were on strike returned to work. Meanwhile, retail trade lost 28,000 jobs.

Construction Employment

Employment in the overall construction sector increased by 10,000 in November, after 2,000 gains in October. While residential construction gained 3,100 jobs, non-residential construction employment added 6,800 jobs for the month.

Residential construction employment now stands at 3.4 million in November, broken down as 958,000 builders and 2.4 million residential specialty trade contractors. The 6-month moving average of job gains for residential construction was 2,983 a month. Over the last 12 months, home builders and remodelers added 52,400 jobs on a net basis. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,391,400 positions.

In November, the unemployment rate for construction workers remained at 5.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unemployment rate for construction workers has remained at a relatively lower level, after reaching 15.3% in April 2020 due to the housing demand impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.