The latest Jobs Report released from the BLS revealed a stellar performance in November with nonfarm payrolls surging by 266,000, shattering economists’ expectations of 187,000 jobs. Economists also predicted the unemployment rate would remain constant at 3.6 percent; however, November’s unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5 percent, back to tying the lowest level ever recorded since 1969. To summarize, the labor market is still holding firm as we approach the end of the year. Let’s take a closer look at November’s Jobs Report.
A deep dive of November’s Jobs Report
November was the 110th month in a row of job gains. With 266,000 jobs added, this was the best month of job gains since January 2019’s 312,000. A significant chunk of last month’s gain was due to the conclusion of the lengthy strike of General Motors’ employees. Last month, the end of GM’s strike brought 41,300 people back to work, generating the majority of November’s total manufacturing job gains of 54,000. However, even if you remove the strike from consideration, nonfarm payroll gains completely smashed all expectations from Wall Street.
If that doesn’t impress you, the latest Jobs Report also positively reported revisions from the prior two months. In September, job gains increased by 13,000 for a total of 193,000 jobs, and for October, job gains also ticked up by an impressive 28,000 jobs to 156,000 for the month. After revisions, job gains have increased by 41,000 jobs over the past two months. These changes improved 2019’s average monthly job gains to 180,000.
Average hourly earnings continued to rise with an increase of $0.07, for a total hourly rate of $28.29. Over the last 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.1 percent. Economists were projecting a flat gain of 3.0 percent like it was last month. Additionally, the labor force participation rate remained little changed at 63.2 percent. All in all, these are all signs that the labor market looks to hold steady as we near 2020.
Job gains by industry
Below is a break down of nonfarm payroll job gains throughout the month:
- Manufacturing: +54,000 jobs
- +41,300 from GM workers returning from strike
- Leisure and hospitality: +45,000 (+219,000 total gains over the last four months)
- Healthcare: +45,000 jobs (+414,000 total gains over the last 12 months)
- Ambulatory healthcare services: +34,000
- Hospitals: +10,000
- Employment in professional and technical services: +31,000 jobs (+278,000 total gains over the last 12 months)
- Transportation and warehousing: +16,000
- Warehousing and storage: +8,000
- Couriers and messengers: +5,000
- Financial activities: +13,000 (+116,000 total gains over the last 12 months)
- Credit intermediation and related activities: +7,000
- Retail trade: +2,000
- General merchandise stores: +22,000
- Motor vehicle and parts dealers: +8,000
- Clothing accessories stores: -18,000
- Mining: -7,000
- Support activities for mining: -6,000
Need help navigating this tight market?
As you can see, the market remains tight and doesn’t look to slow down in the new year. With only one more month of 2019, it may be time to enlist some help to fill those critical roles by the end of the year. If you’re interested in partnering with a recruiter that specializes in your industry, reach out to us today, and let’s work together!
