The national unemployment rate fell to a five-year low of 7 percent in November and payrolls grew by 203,000.
The better-than-expected numbers included a net gain of 196,000 private-sector and 7,000 government jobs and built on revised job growth of 200,000 in October.
“This is a solid payroll report any way you slice and dice it,” said Scott Anderson, an analyst with Bank of the West. “Income growth and hours worked are on the rise as well.”
The government report published Friday cheered stock traders and economists who think a post-recession turnaround for the job market may — finally — be sustainable.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ establishment payroll survey, October and November provided the biggest back-to-back job growth since February and March. The autumn gains were an improvement over the 158,000 average job growth during the summer months.
The gains fueled speculation that the Federal Reserve could begin pulling back on its ongoing economic stimulus program after it reviews the job market progress. But economists cautioned that it may take more than a couple of months of labor market improvement to declare an economic turnaround.
“I still think January is more likely,” Anderson said, referring to possible “tapering” by the central bank’s policy makers of its bond buying and other stimulus actions.
But Dan Heckman, national investment consultant for U.S. Bank Private Client Reserve in Kansas City, said some Fed action might occur this month, particularly a pullback in its Treasury bond buying.
“I think (Fed chairman) Ben Bernanke wants to do something before he leaves office,” Heckman said. “The last couple months have shown that desite the political shenanigans in Washington, people have continued to spend and work.”
Positives in the November jobs reports included:
• The household survey indicated that 818,000 more people were working in November and 365,000 fewer people were unemployed.
• The labor force participation rate rose to 63 percent of the 16-and-over population, or 0.2 percent point higher than its low point.
• The establishment payroll survey indicated that employment is 1.7 percent higher than its year-earlier level.
• Notable November job gains occurred in trade, transportation, utilities; professional and business services; education and health services; manufacturing; and construction.
Soft spots remain, though.
The number of long-term unemployed rose by 3,000 to represent more than one-third of the nation’s 10.9 million jobless, and the average length of unemployment rose by 1.1 weeks to 37.2 weeks. Workers are considered long-term unemployed if they’re in the job market for 26 weeks or more.
Some sectors, including financial activities and information, continued to shed jobs last month.
Overall, employment is still nearly 1.3 million jobs beneath its peak in January 2008, the month after the recession officially began.
The government did have some good news for the currently employed: Both hourly and weekly earnings grew slightly in November. Average hourly earnings of $20.31 were 1.7 percent higher than their year-ago level, and average weekly earnings of $833.18 were 2.3 percent above their year-ago level.
The length of the average work week, an indication of increasing demand for goods and services, rose by 0.1 hour to 34.5 hours.
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The better-than-expected numbers included a net gain of 196,000 private-sector and 7,000 government jobs and built on revised job growth of 200,000 in October.
“This is a solid payroll report any way you slice and dice it,” said Scott Anderson, an analyst with Bank of the West. “Income growth and hours worked are on the rise as well.”
The government report published Friday cheered stock traders and economists who think a post-recession turnaround for the job market may — finally — be sustainable.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ establishment payroll survey, October and November provided the biggest back-to-back job growth since February and March. The autumn gains were an improvement over the 158,000 average job growth during the summer months.
The gains fueled speculation that the Federal Reserve could begin pulling back on its ongoing economic stimulus program after it reviews the job market progress. But economists cautioned that it may take more than a couple of months of labor market improvement to declare an economic turnaround.
“I still think January is more likely,” Anderson said, referring to possible “tapering” by the central bank’s policy makers of its bond buying and other stimulus actions.
But Dan Heckman, national investment consultant for U.S. Bank Private Client Reserve in Kansas City, said some Fed action might occur this month, particularly a pullback in its Treasury bond buying.
“I think (Fed chairman) Ben Bernanke wants to do something before he leaves office,” Heckman said. “The last couple months have shown that desite the political shenanigans in Washington, people have continued to spend and work.”
Positives in the November jobs reports included:
• The household survey indicated that 818,000 more people were working in November and 365,000 fewer people were unemployed.
• The labor force participation rate rose to 63 percent of the 16-and-over population, or 0.2 percent point higher than its low point.
• The establishment payroll survey indicated that employment is 1.7 percent higher than its year-earlier level.
• Notable November job gains occurred in trade, transportation, utilities; professional and business services; education and health services; manufacturing; and construction.
Soft spots remain, though.
The number of long-term unemployed rose by 3,000 to represent more than one-third of the nation’s 10.9 million jobless, and the average length of unemployment rose by 1.1 weeks to 37.2 weeks. Workers are considered long-term unemployed if they’re in the job market for 26 weeks or more.
Some sectors, including financial activities and information, continued to shed jobs last month.
Overall, employment is still nearly 1.3 million jobs beneath its peak in January 2008, the month after the recession officially began.
The government did have some good news for the currently employed: Both hourly and weekly earnings grew slightly in November. Average hourly earnings of $20.31 were 1.7 percent higher than their year-ago level, and average weekly earnings of $833.18 were 2.3 percent above their year-ago level.
The length of the average work week, an indication of increasing demand for goods and services, rose by 0.1 hour to 34.5 hours.
The Kansas City Star is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere on the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.
The Kansas City Star uses Facebook's commenting system. You need to log in with a Facebook account in order to comment. If you have questions about commenting with your Facebook account, click here