November 1999 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.

Payroll employment rose in November, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 234,000. Employment in manufacturing held near its October level, while construction and services continued to add jobs over the month. Average hourly earnings rose by 2 cents in November, following a rise of 4 cents (as revised) in October.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons, 5.7 million, was essentially unchanged in November, and the unemployment rate held at 4.1 percent. The jobless rate has been below 4.3 percent since August. Unemployment rates for the major demographic groups--adult men (3.3 percent), adult women (3.6 percent), teenagers (14.1 percent), whites (3.5 percent), blacks (8.1 percent), and Hispanics (6.0 percent)--showed little or no change over the month. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The civilian labor force, at 139.8 million, was little changed in November, and the labor force participation rate remained at 67.0 percent. Total employment was essentially unchanged at 134.1 million. The employment- population ratio--the proportion of the population age 16 and older with jobs--was 64.3 percent in November, about unchanged from October. (See table A-1.)

About 8.1 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) held more than one job in November. These multiple jobholders represented 6.0 percent of the total employed, compared with 6.3 percent a year earlier. (See table A-10.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

About 1.1 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in November. These were people who wanted and were available to work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched 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 work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them--was 272,000 in November. (See table A-10.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 234,000 in November to 129.5 million, after seasonal adjustment. This gain was about the same as the average monthly increase for the prior 12 months. In November, employment rose in services and construction and was essentially unchanged in manufacturing and retail trade. (See table B-1.)

In the goods-producing sector, construction employment increased by 55,000 in November, after seasonal adjustment. Dry weather and unusually warm temperatures over most of the country during the survey reference period may have contributed to the strong over-the-month gain. Special trades contracting had a particularly large employment increase of 41,000. Since August, construction employment has risen by 122,000.

Manufacturing employment was essentially unchanged at 18.4 million in November, as small gains in some industries were offset by continued declines in others. The recent downward trend in factory employment, which began in April 1998, has slowed dramatically over the past several months. The number of factory jobs has fallen by an average of 9,000 per month over the past 5 months, compared with average monthly losses of 36,000 during the first half of the year. Industries that had job increases in November included lumber and wood products; stone, clay, and glass products; and food and kindred products. In contrast, industrial machinery, motor vehicles, aircraft, and apparel continued to lose jobs.

In the service-producing sector, the services industry added 120,000 jobs in November, about in line with its average growth for the prior 12 months. Business services added 45,000 jobs in November, following a much larger increase in October. Within business services, computer services added only 3,000 jobs over the month. Since August, employment gains in this industry have averaged 6,000 per month, compared with an average monthly increase of 14,000 for the first 8 months of the year. Engineering and management services, an industry related to business services, also has experienced a recent slowdown in job growth. Employment in this industry rose by an average of 14,000 per month over the past 3 months, compared with an average of 21,000 per month over the first 8 months of the year. Elsewhere in services, social services added 25,000 jobs in November, nearly half of which were in child day care services. Health services employment rose by 14,000, and, in agricultural services, unseasonably warm weather may have contributed to an over-the-month job gain of 10,000.

Employment in transportation and public utilities rose by 15,000 in November, with all of the increase occurring in transportation industries. Within transportation, trucking and warehousing added 10,000 jobs and air transportation added 4,000.

Finance, insurance, and real estate added 8,000 jobs in November. Within finance, employment increases in security and commodity brokerages and holding and other investment offices were partially offset by declines in commercial banks.

Government employment rose by 31,000 in November, after seasonal adjustment, with growth concentrated in state and local government.

Employment in retail trade was essentially unchanged in November. Eating and drinking places added 23,000 jobs, the first gain since July. This increase and a small gain in car dealerships were offset by declines in apparel, furniture, and miscellaneous retail establishments. Employment growth in wholesale trade was below average in November, following a large job increase in October.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour in November to 34.6 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek was down by 0.1 hour to 41.7 hours, and manufacturing overtime was unchanged at 4.7 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.3 percent to 149.3 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing index declined by 0.2 percent in November to 106.0. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 2 cents in November to $13.41, seasonally adjusted. This follows a gain of 4 cents in October (as revised). Over the month, average weekly earnings rose by 0.4 percent to $463.99, seasonally adjusted. Over the year, both average hourly earnings and average weekly earnings increased by 3.6 percent. (See table B-3.)

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