November 1995 Employment Situation

Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain source. Statistical tables, standard technical appendices, administrative material and attendance rosters are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's historical context and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete document.

Nonfarm payroll employment rose in November and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The number of payroll jobs increased by 166,000, but manufacturing employment continued to decline.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons and the unemployment rate in November were 7.4 million and 5.6 percent, respectively. Both measures have remained in a very narrow range for much of the year. The unemployment rate for adult men rose four-tenths of a percentage point to 4.9 percent in November; this followed a decline of the same magnitude in the previous month. The rates for adult women (4.8 percent), teenagers (17.9 percent), whites (5.0 percent), blacks (9.4 percent), and Hispanics (9.4 percent) showed little or no change. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment, at 125.0 million in November, fell by 389,000 over the month. The proportion of the working-age population that was employed (the employment-population ratio) was 62.7 percent; it has been at or near that level since spring. The number of persons working part time for economic reasons was unchanged in November at 4.4 million. (See tables A-1 and A-3.)

The number of workers who held more than one job in November was 7.6 million (not seasonally adjusted). These multiple jobholders comprised 6.1 percent of the total employed, about the same as a year earlier. (See table A-8.)

The civilian labor force, at a seasonally adjusted level of 132.4 million in November, was essentially unchanged from the previous month. The labor force participation rate also was little changed at 66.4 percent. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.5 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in November--that is, they wanted and were available for work but had stopped looking for jobs sometime in the prior 12 months. The number of discouraged workers--persons who had stopped looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available to them--was 401,000 in November. Both figures were about the same as a year earlier. (See table A-8.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 166,000 in November to 117.2 million. This gain was concentrated in the services and retail trade industries, while manufacturing employment continued its downward trend. A portion of the payroll employment increase was attributable to two technical factors: a later-than-usual survey week, and the normal semi- annual updating of the factors used in the seasonal adjustment process. The combined effect accounted for about 70,000 of the over-the-month increase in payroll employment, with the majority of the effect in retail trade. (See table B-1.)

The services industry added 87,000 jobs in November, with health services and engineering and management services showing large gains. The pace of job growth in health services has been quite robust in recent months. Employment in engineering and management services has expanded rapidly in 1995, adding nearly 150,000 workers. Following recent declines, employment in hotels and other lodging places and membership organizations had sizable over-the-month increases. Business services showed a relatively small job gain for the second straight month, as a decline in help supply services offset much of the increase in computer services and other business services.

Employment in retail trade rose by 74,000 in November. Much of the increase, however, was attributable to the technical factors previously mentioned. Wholesale trade added 12,000 jobs over the month, virtually all of which was concentrated in the distribution of durable goods. Employment in transportation and public utilities increased by 18,000, primarily due to gains in the local transit and air transportation industries. Finance recorded its largest gain in 2 years (14,000).

Manufacturing employment fell by 32,000 in November, continuing the downward trend which began this April. The November decline was evenly divided between the durable and nondurable goods industries. Within durables, the motor vehicle component of transportation equipment experienced the greatest decline (14,000), resulting from the temporary layoff of auto workers for inventory adjustment. Another component of transportation equipment, aircraft manufacturing, showed a further decline over the month as additional workers went out on strike. In contrast, industrial machinery and electronic components continued their strong job growth trend. In nondurables, the apparel industry again experienced job losses; these have totaled 86,000 over the year.

Construction employment was little changed in November, after seasonal adjustment, following 2 months of healthy job gains. Employment in November may have been held down due to the very cold weather conditions in the eastern half of the country, which resulted in more layoffs than usual in such outdoor activities as heavy construction, roofing, and concrete work. Mining continued its long-term decline, losing 3,000 jobs over the month.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour in November to 34.5 hours, seasonally adjusted. Both the average manufacturing workweek and factory overtime were unchanged, at 41.5 and 4.4 hours, respectively. (See table B- 2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of private production or nonsupervisory workers on nonfarm payrolls declined by 0.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis to 133.3 (1982=100) in November. The manufacturing index edged down by 0.1 percent to 105.7. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of private production or nonsupervisory workers edged down by 1 cent in November to $11.58 (seasonally adjusted), following a gain of 5 cents in the previous month. Average weekly earnings fell by 0.4 percent to $399.51. Over the past year, average hourly earnings increased by 3.0 percent and average weekly earnings rose by 2.7 percent. (See table B-3.)

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