By Manuel Gutierrez, Consulting Economist to NKBA
The economy may be softening on several fronts, but employment isn’t among them. Private and public sectors added 263,000 jobs in November, keeping the unemployment rate steady at 3.7 percent.
- With unemployment at 3.7 percent — generally considered “full employment” by economists — the number of unemployed individuals dropped by 48,00 in the month, and has plummeted by 791,000 in the past year.
- Construction added 20,000 jobs in November, bringing total growth of 248,000 jobs since November 2021. Employment in construction climbed to a record 7.75 million in November, with an average hourly wage of $32.94, up 6.1 percent since November 2021.
- Interior designer jobs fell by 0.7 percent in October (the latest month available), to a total of 52,900 in the month — 9,000 fewer jobs than the all-time peak of 53,800 recorded in June.
- Manufacturing gained 14,000 jobs in November, bringing total employment to nearly 13 million. The sector has recovered all the jobs lost during the pandemic. Current employment is 1.2 percent above its level in February 2020, and is the highest since December 2008, during the Great Recession.
- Hospitality and healthcare added the most jobs for the month, 78,000 and 45,000, respectively. Government added 42,000 jobs.
- Retail and wholesale trade saw job contraction, down by 30,000 and 3,000 jobs, respectively, while 15,000 jobs were lost in Transportation & Warehousing.
