November 2003 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 continued to trend up in November and the unemployment rate, at 5.9 percent, was essentially unchanged from October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment rose slightly over the month (57,000).

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

Both the unemployment rate, 5.9 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, 8.7 million, were essentially unchanged in November. The jobless rate is down slightly from midyear. Unemployment rates for most of the major worker groups--adult men (5.7 percent), adult women (5.1 percent), teenagers (15.5 percent), whites (5.2 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (7.4 percent)-- were little changed. The rate for blacks (10.2 percent) was down over the month. The unemployment rate for Asians was 5.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

In November, 2.0 million unemployed persons had been looking for work for 27 weeks or longer, about the same level as in October. They represented 23.7 percent of the total unemployed. (See table A-9.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment increased to 138.6 million in November, and the employment- population ratio rose to 62.4 percent. The civilian labor force and labor force participation rate also increased, to 147.3 million and 66.3 percent, respec- tively. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

In November, 1.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, little changed from a year earlier. (Data are not seasonally ad- justed.) These individuals wanted and were available to work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unem- ployed, however, because they did not actively search for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. There were 457,000 discouraged workers in November, slightly higher than 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. The other 1 million marginally attached had not searched for work for reasons such as school or family respon- sibilities. (See table A-13.)

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 57,000 in November to 130.2 million, seasonally adjusted. Payroll employment has increased by 328,000 since July. In recent months, job losses have lessened in manufacturing, and employment has trended up in construction and several services industries. (See table B-1.)

Factory job losses have averaged 17,000 since August, compared with an average decline of 53,000 for the 12 months ending in August. Employment in durable goods manufacturing was unchanged in November, while small job losses continued in nondurable goods. Employment in construction continued to trend up in November; the industry has added 156,000 jobs since February.

Retail trade employment declined by 28,000 in November. The loss was concentrated in food stores (-23,000), reflecting the impact of strike- related activities in the industry. (In the payroll survey, workers on strike for the entire reference period are not counted as employed because they are not being paid by their employers.)

Professional and business services employment was little changed in November. Employment in this industry has increased by 181,000 since December 2002, with temporary help services accounting for about three- fourths of the growth.

Employment in health care and social assistance rose by 25,000 over the month. In November, both ambulatory health care services (+11,000) and hospitals (+8,000) added jobs.

Within the leisure and hospitality sector, accommodations added 13,000 jobs in November, following jobs losses totaling 27,000 in the prior 3 months. Air transportation employment increased by 3,000 in November; however, this industry has shed 133,000 jobs since its peak in March 2001.

The number of jobs in credit intermediation decreased for the second consecutive month, reflecting the reduced volume of mortgage refinancing. From July 2000 through September 2003, the industry had added 251,000 jobs.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour in November to 33.9 hours, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek rose by 0.2 hour to 40.8 hours, and manufacturing overtime edged up by 0.1 hour to 4.4 hours. Since July, the factory workweek has increased by 0.7 hour and factory overtime has risen by 0.3 hour. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 0.2 percent to 99.3 in November (2002=100). The manufacturing index increased by 0.3 percent over the month to 95.0. (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 1 cent over the month to $15.46, seasonally adjusted. Average weekly earnings rose by 0.4 percent in November to $524.09. Over the year, average hourly earnings increased by 2.1 percent, and average weekly earnings rose by 2.4 percent. (See table B-3.)

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