November 2001 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 fell sharply for the second month in a row in November, and the unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment dropped by 331,000, following an even larger decline in October. As was the case in October, job losses in November were widespread.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons increased by 419,000 to 8.2 million in November, and the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage point to 5.7 percent; this followed an increase of half a percentage point in October. The jobless rate in November was at its highest level since August 1995. Since October 2000, when both measures were at their most recent lows, unemployment has risen by 2.6 million and the unemployment rate has increased by 1.8 percentage points, of which 1.4 percentage points have come since the beginning of the recession in March. (See table A-1.)

The unemployment rates for adult men (5.3 percent) and whites (5.1 percent) rose in November. The rates for adult women (4.9 percent), blacks (10.1 percent), Hispanics (7.6 percent), and teenagers (15.9 percent) were little changed over the month, but were up substantially over the year. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)

Among persons age 25 and older, the unemployment rates for high school graduates with no college (5.1 percent) and college graduates (3.1 percent) increased in November. The jobless rates for all of the educational groups have risen over the year. (See table A-3.)

The number of unemployed persons who had been jobless for 27 weeks or more rose by 280,000 in November to 1.2 million. This level has nearly doubled since July. (See table A-6.)

The number of unemployed job losers not on temporary layoff rose by 427,000 in November to 3.4 million and has grown by 1.2 million since July. These job losers accounted for 42.0 percent of the unemployed in November compared to 28.8 percent a year earlier. (See table A-7.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The total number of employed persons fell by 478,000 in November to 134.1 million (seasonally adjusted). The employment-population ratio dropped by 0.3 percentage point to 63.0 percent. Since its most recent peak in January, employment has fallen by 1.9 million, and the employment- population ratio has lost 1.5 percentage points. (See table A-1.)

The civilian labor force was essentially unchanged at 142.2 million in November, and the labor force participation rate remained at 66.9 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, up from 1.1 million a year earlier. These persons 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 had not actively searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers was 322,000 in November, up from 234,000 a year earlier. Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them. (See table A-10.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 331,000 in November to 131.4 million, seasonally adjusted, following a decline of 468,000 (as revised) in October. Since the recession began in March, payroll employment has fallen by 1.2 million. As was the case in October, job losses in November were broad based. Manufacturing, help supply services, and transportation continued to have particularly large employment declines. (See table B-1.)

Widespread job losses continued in manufacturing. Factory employment fell by 163,000 over the month, bringing the decline since July 2000 to 1.4 million. In November, large employment cutbacks continued in both electrical equipment (-29,000) and industrial machinery (-26,000). These two industries have accounted for one-third of the factory jobs lost since July 2000. Fabricated metals also had a particularly large decline (-19,000) in November. Four additional manufacturing industries lost more than 10,000 jobs each over the month--primary metals, apparel, printing and publishing, and rubber and miscellaneous plastics.

Elsewhere in the goods-producing sector, construction employment was essentially unchanged , after seasonal adjustment. Unseasonably warm temperatures across virtually the entire country in November helped to mitigate some of the seasonal layoffs that typically occur during the month. As a result, employment rose, after seasonal adjustment, in outdoor construction activities such as heavy construction, concrete, and masonry. These increases were offset by job losses in plumbing and electrical work.

The services industry lost 70,000 jobs in November; over the last 2 months, employment in the industry has fallen by 221,000. Much of the decline occurred in help supply services. That industry, which provides workers to other businesses, lost a total of 188,000 jobs in October and November. About 1 job in 5 in the industry has been lost since September 2000. A decline of 7,000 in hotel employment followed a sizable drop in October. Employment also fell over the month in amusement and recreation services (-25,000). In contrast, employment in health services continued its steady growth with an increase of 32,000 in November, including 17,000 in hospitals. The health services industry has added 277,000 jobs thus far in 2001. Employment in guard services, a component of business services, continued to grow in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Employment declines continued in transportation, with a loss of 54,000 jobs in November and 172,000 since March. Over-the-month job losses accelerated in air transportation (-45,000) and continued in transportation services (-12,000), which includes travel agencies.

Wholesale trade employment fell by 25,000 in November. Since its peak in November 2000, the industry has lost 124,000 jobs. Mirroring the recent trends in manufacturing, over-the-month declines were concentrated in durable goods distribution, particularly in machinery and in professional and commercial equipment.

Retail trade employment edged down in November, following a large drop in October. This was the fourth consecutive monthly decrease, with total losses of 203,000 jobs in retail trade since July. Industries that usually hire extensively for the holiday shopping season--department stores, apparel stores, and miscellaneous retailers (such as toy stores and jewelry stores)-- had large job declines, after seasonal adjustment, for the second consecutive month. Car dealers added 6,000 jobs in November, reflecting the incentives offered to boost car sales.

Finance added 14,000 jobs over the month. Mortgage brokerages, commercial banks, and savings institutions have benefited from low interest rates in recent months.

Employment in government was little changed in November and has shown no net growth since August. A decline in federal government employment was due primarily to limited holiday hiring by the postal service. Local government education employment increased by 22,000 over the month and has risen by 117,000 since May.

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 34.1 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek decreased by 0.2 hour to 40.3 hours, the same level as in March 1991, its lowest point in the last recession. Factory overtime was down by 0.1 hour to 3.7 hours. Since July 2000, the manufacturing workweek has fallen by 1.5 hours and overtime by 1.0 hour. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 percent in November to 148.7 (1982=100), seasonally adjusted. The index has fallen by 2.3 percent from its recent peak in January. The manufacturing index fell by 1.5 percent to 93.5 in November and has dropped by 12.6 percent since July 2000. (See table B-5.)

Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)

Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 5 cents in November to $14.52, seasonally adjusted. This followed a gain of 2 cents in October. Average weekly earnings rose by 0.6 percent in November to $495.13. Over the year, average hourly earnings increased by 3.9 percent and average weekly earnings grew by 3.3 percent. (See table B-3.)

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