WASHINGTON — U.S. employers, continuing a pattern of
modest hiring, added 120,000 new jobs in November, the Labor Department
said Friday.
The nation’s unemployment rate,
however, fell sharply to 8.6 percent from 9 percent in October. There
was an unusually big drop in the number of people who reported being out
of work. Many jobless people may have quit looking for jobs, and thus
wouldn’t have been counted as officially unemployed. Analysts expect the
jobless figure to climb back up next month.
Strong
holiday hiring boosted the new job tally last month. Retailers added
almost 50,000 jobs, the second strongest November hiring by stores in a
decade. Two other lower-paying sectors, temporary-help and leisure
businesses, accounted for much of the rest of the job gains.
Manufacturing payrolls were flat, and government continued to slash
workers.
On a more positive note, the Labor
Department revised upward the job growth in September and October by
72,000 jobs. Job creation in the last three months thus averaged 143,000
a month. That’s almost double the monthly average from May to August,
but even at that pace, the unemployment rate won’t come down fast
anytime soon.
The latest jobs report comes on the
heels of other data suggesting a strengthening of the economy. Consumer
spending, manufacturing and exports, and business investment and
confidence all have edged higher since summer — despite significant
concerns about the European debt crisis, the still-moribund American
housing market, government cutbacks and political paralysis in
Washington.
Other indicators also show hints of
improvement in the job market. The National Federation of Independent
Business, a lobbying group for small firms, said its survey of members
in November showed that the average number of workers per firm rose and
that plans to create new jobs nearly doubled.
“Overall,
the employment indicators delivered a significant positive signal,
still at weak levels but a meaningful movement forward,” said William
Dunkelberg, the group’s chief economist.
___
©2011 Tribune Co.
Visit Tribune Co. at www.latimes.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
