Employment Estimates Show Slight Job Losses in Oct and Nov
The most recent employment estimates for October and November, produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, show a net loss of 5,300 jobs over the two-month period. Specifically, total nonfarm employment decreased in November by 1,700 to a seasonally adjusted level of 4,396,000 jobs, while October’s estimates show a net loss of 3,600 jobs. Data collection and the release of these estimates were delayed because of the federal government shutdown. Both the October and November employment estimates will also undergo routine revisions.
The state’s unemployment rate for November increased to 5.4 percent, a 0.2 percentage point increase from September. Labor force data for October, including the unemployment rate, are not available due to the lack of household survey data collection during the federal government shutdown.
Revised estimates of total non-farm employment in September show a slight downward revision of 500, resulting in a revised August to September gain of 10,400 jobs.
In November, three out of nine private industry sectors recorded employment gains compared with October. Those sectors were private education and health services (+4,900), trade, transportation, and utilities (+1,800), and financial activities (+800). Sectors that recorded job losses include professional and business services (-3,600), leisure and hospitality (-2,800), construction (-2,000), manufacturing (-800), and information (-100). Other services recorded no change over the month. The public sector recorded a gain of 100 jobs for November.
Article sourced from The Department of Labor & Workforce Development.