November 2005 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 grew by 215,000 in November, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.0 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the month, job growth was widespread, with large gains in construction and food services.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The unemployment rate was unchanged in November at 5.0 percent. The jobless rate has ranged between 4.9 and 5.1 percent since May. The number of unemployed persons, 7.6 million, was essentially unchanged in November. The unemployment rates for adult men (4.3 percent), adult women (4.6 percent), teenagers (17.2 percent), whites (4.3 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (6.0 percent) showed little or no change in November. The jobless rates for blacks (10.6 percent) and, specifically, for adult black women (9.1 percent), rose over the month. In November, the unemployment rate for Asians was 3.6 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

Total employment, 142.6 million, and the civilian labor force, 150.2 million, were little changed in November. The employment-population ratio also was little changed over the month at 62.8 percent, and the labor force participation rate held at 66.1 percent. (See table A-1.)

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

The number of persons marginally attached to the labor force was 1.4 million in November, about the same as a year earlier. (Data are not seasonally adjusted.) 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 unemployed, however, because they did not actively search for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. There were 404,000 discouraged workers in November, about the same as a year earlier. Dis- couraged 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 1.0 million marginally attached persons had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-13.)

Employment Status of Hurricane Katrina Evacuees (Household Survey Data)

Beginning in October, questions were added to the household survey to identify persons who evacuated from their homes, even temporarily, due to Hurricane Katrina. Data collected through these questions do not represent all evacuees; persons living outside of the scope of the survey--such as those living in hotels or shelters--are not included. The questions were asked of persons in the household survey sample throughout the country, since some evacuees relocated far from the storm-affected areas. The questions also determined whether evacuees had returned to their homes by the time of the survey. This additional information enabled analysis of the employment status of this subgroup of evacuees. (The total number of evacuees estimated from the household survey may change from month to month as people move in and out of the scope of the survey.)

Information gathered in November showed that about 900,000 persons age 16 and over had evacuated from where they were living in August due to Hurricane Katrina. These evacuees either had returned to their homes or were living in other residential units covered in the survey in November. Half of the evacuees had returned to their August 2005 residences. Of all evacuees identified, 55.2 percent were in the labor force in November. The employment-population ratio for these evacuees was 43.9 per- cent. The unemployment rate for persons identified as evacuees was 20.5 percent; it was much higher for those who had not returned home (27.8 percent) than for those who had returned (12.5 percent). (See table B.)

(Numbers in thousands, not seasonally adjusted)

1/ Represents persons in the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over who resided in households that were eligible to be selected for the Current Population Survey (CPS). These data are not representative of the total evacuee population because they do not in- clude children or people residing in shelters, hotels, places of worship, or other units outside the scope of the CPS. The total number of evac- uees estimated from the CPS may change from month to month as people move in and out of the scope of the survey and because of sampling varia- bility. NOTE: These data use population controls that have been adjusted to account for interstate moves by evacuees.

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 215,000 to 134.3 million in November. This followed 2 months of little growth in employment, due in part to the direct and indirect effects of hurricanes that struck the Gulf Coast. During the first 8 months of the year, payroll employment grew by an average of 196,000 per month. In November, gains were widespread with notable increases in construction, professional and technical services, health care, and food services and drinking places. (See table B-1.)

In November, construction employment rose by 37,000, with a large increase occurring in heavy and civil engineering construction (14,000). November job gains in construction partly reflect rebuilding and clean-up efforts following Hurricane Katrina. Employment in the industry has been on an upward trend for more than 2-1/2 years.

Professional and technical services employment increased by 22,000 in November. Within this sector, architectural and engineering services and management and technical consulting services each added about 6,000 jobs. Over the last 12 months, professional and technical services has added 210,000 jobs.

Health care employment continued to grow in November, increasing by 20,000. Ambulatory health care services, which includes doctors' offices and outpatient clinics, added 15,000 jobs. Health care has added 263,000 jobs since November 2004.

Within leisure and hospitality, food services--which includes restaurants and drinking places--added 39,000 jobs in November. This followed declines in the previous 2 months that totaled 69,000. For the 12 months ending in August, the industry had gained 283,000 jobs.

Manufacturing employment edged up in November. Job gains occurred in wood products and in computer and electronic products, while machinery manufacturing employment decreased.

In November, employment in financial activities continued its upward trend, as credit intermediation added 5,000 jobs. Wholesale trade employment also continued to trend up, with most of the over-the-month gain occurring in the industry's durable goods component. Retail trade employment was about un- changed over the month. Within the industry, employment in automobile dealerships declined for the second consecutive month, falling by 6,000 in November. Building material and garden supply stores added 6,000 jobs over the month.

Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls fell by 0.1 hour to 33.7 hours in November, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek decreased by 0.2 hour to 40.8 hours, following a 0.3-hour increase in October. Factory overtime was down by 0.1 hour in November to 4.5 hours. (See table B-2.)

The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls decreased by 0.1 percent in November to 103.2 (2002=100). The manufacturing index was down by 0.2 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 rose by 3 cents in November to $16.32, seasonally adjusted. This followed an increase of 10 cents (as revised) in October. Average weekly earnings decreased by 0.1 percent over the month to $549.98. Over the year, both average hourly and weekly earnings increased by 3.2 percent. (See table B-3.)

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