The Bureau of Labor Statistics is reporting that around 210,000 new jobs were created in the U.S. during the month of November.
“Notable job gains occurred in professional and business services, transportation and warehousing, construction, and manufacturing,” said William Beach, the commission of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in a statement exploring the latest job numbers.
Beach added, however, that “employment in retail trade declined over the month.”
The construction industry saw an increase of more than 31,000 jobs, with the largest growth sector in nonresidential work taking on nearly 21,000 new workers.
Heavy and civil engineering construction firms took on an additional 8,100 new workers for the month, followed by specialty trade contractors, with a gain of 6,800.
Altogether, nonresidential employment is today 209,000 less than where it was the month before the pandemic, while residential employment is now up by 95,000 over February of 2020.
Although the overall numbers, asserts the New York Times, were below expectations, the latest report “shows an economy on the right track.” The paper notes that overall jobless rate declined from 4.6% to 4.2%, “a remarkable swing in a single month.”
Reports the Wall Street Journal: “Hiring slowed last month amid Covid-19 uncertainties, but people returned to the labor market in droves in a sign the tight labor market could be loosening.”
By Garry Boulard
