The total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 210,000 in November, while the unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage points to 4.2%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Professional and business services, transportation and warehousing, construction, and manufacturing all saw significant job growth. Retail trade employment fell over the month.
The number of unemployed people has decreased by 542,000 to 6.9 million. Both indicators are significantly lower than they were at the end of the February-April 2020 recession. They are, however, still higher than before the coronavirus pandemic (3.5% and 5.7 million, respectively, in February 2020)
The number of permanent job losers among the unemployed fell by 205,000 in November to 1.9 million but is 623,000 higher than in February 2020. In November, the number of people on temporary layoff fell by 255,000 to 801,000. This indicator has dropped from a high of 18.0 million in April 2020 to nearly 750,000 in February 2020.
The number of long-term unemployed (those out of work for 27 weeks or more) remained stable in November at 2.2 million but is 1.1 million higher than in February 2020. In November, the long-term unemployed made up 32.1 percent of the total unemployed.
In November, the labor-force participation rate increased to 61.8 percent. The rate of participation is 1.5 percentage points lower than it was in February 2020. In November, the employment-to-population ratio increased by 0.4 percentage points to 59.2 percent. This figure has risen from a low of 51.3 percent in April 2020, but it remains lower than the figure of 61.1 percent in February 2020.
Market Reactions
Following the release of the US nonfarm payrolls for November, the DXY saw a movement towards the downside before paring losses, S&P 500 moved to the upside before paring gains, and Gold moved towards the downside.
