November 1997 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.

Employment rose sharply in November, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 404,000 with gains widespread throughout the private sector.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the number of unemployed persons, 6.2 million, and the unemployment rate, 4.6 percent, were little changed in November. Since March, the number of unemployed persons has fallen by 895,000 and the jobless rate by 0.6 percentage point. In November, the unemployment rates for adult men and white workers each declined from 4.1 percent to 3.8 percent; the rate for Hispanics (6.9 percent) was also down. The jobless rates for adult women (4.0 percent), teenagers (15.0 percent), and blacks (9.6 percent) showed little or no movement over the month. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

Among the unemployed, the number of persons who had been looking for work for fewer than 5 weeks declined in November, as did the number who had been looking for work for 27 weeks or more. (See table A-5.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment rose by 671,000 in November to 130.6 million (seasonally adjusted). That measure had changed little between May and October. The proportion of the population that was employed (the employment-population ratio) rose in November to 64.0 percent, an all-time high. (See table A-1.)

About 8.2 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) held more than one job in November. These multiple jobholders comprised 6.2 percent of the total employed. (See table A-9.)

The civilian labor force rose by 453,000 to 136.8 million in November, after seasonal adjustment. The labor force participation rate was about unchanged at 67.1 percent. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.3 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in November. These were people who wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months, but were not counted as unemployed because they did not search for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

The number of discouraged workers--a subset of the marginally attached who were not currently looking for jobs specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them--was 331,000 in November, little changed from a year earlier. (See table A-9.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 404,000 in November, after seasonal adjustment. Job gains were widespread throughout the private sector, with the largest increases occurring in services and retail trade. (See table B-1.)

Employment in the services industry rose by 180,000 in November. Business services added 77,000 jobs, mainly due to a large increase in the help supply industry (53,000) and continued growth in computer and data processing services (13,000). Employment growth also continued in engineering and management, health, and educational services. Amusement and recreation services added 20,000 jobs in November, its first large increase since July.

Retail trade employment rose by 105,000 in November. Reflecting strong hiring for the holiday season, there were large gains in department stores (31,000) and miscellaneous retail establishments (27,000) such as toy stores, gift shops, book stores, and catalog and mail-order outlets. Employment in furniture and home furnishing stores continued to rise, while employment in eating and drinking places showed its first large increase (30,000) since July.

Elsewhere in the service-producing sector, wholesale trade exhibited stronger-than-average employment growth for the second month in a row. November also was the third consecutive month of above-average gains in the finance industry. Employment rose in commercial banking, and rapid growth continued in security and commodity brokerages. Transportation and public utilities showed a small employment increase in November, following a large gain in the previous month.

Overall, government employment was little changed over the month. Federal government employment, excluding the Postal Service, fell by 12,000 in November, following a gain of similar magnitude in October. Nonpostal federal employment has declined by 364,000 since its most recent peak in May 1992.

In the goods-producing sector, manufacturing employment increased by 44,000 over the month. This was the third large increase in the last 4 months. Since its most recent trough in September 1996, manufacturing has added 208,000 jobs. In November, motor vehicles had the largest gain (17,000). Food products and printing and publishing added 11,000 and 4,000 employees, respectively. Three other manufacturing industries--aircraft and parts, electronic components, and industrial machinery--have been increasing at a steady pace, and growth in these industries continued in November. Taken together, these three industries have added 171,000 jobs since September 1996. In contrast, the apparel industry has lost 55,000 jobs over the same period.

Construction employment rose by 29,000 in November. The gain was about twice the average monthly increase so far this year. Although growth had been sluggish during the summer months, employment was up by 184,000 over the last 12 months.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.3 hour in November to 34.8 hours, seasonally adjusted. Both the manufacturing workweek and factory overtime increased by 0.1 hour to 42.1 and 4.9 hours, respectively. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 1.1 percent to 142.8 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing index rose by 0.6 percent to 109.4. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose 7 cents in November to $12.47, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings rose by 1.4 percent over the month to $433.96. Over the past year, average hourly earnings have risen by 4.1 percent and average weekly earnings by 5.0 percent. (See table B-3.)

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