November Job Report Shows Continued Gains, Although at a Slightly Lower Pace

The construction industry has seen the creation of more than 200,000 new jobs in the last year, even though the latest increase in November was only 2,000, according to a just-released Bureau of Labor Statistics report.

The heavy and civil engineering sectors was up by a substantial 3,030 jobs last month, with nonresidential construction employment seeing a 1,400-job increase.

At the same time, the nonresidential specialty trade sector was off by around 800 jobs.

Looking at the latest figures, Anirban Basu, chief economist with the American Builders and Contractors, noted that the construction industry overall has “added jobs at a significantly faster pace than the broader economy over the past year.”

But in a sobering note, Basu added in a statement that “faster hiring in the industry has coincided with worsening labor shortages, and that has led to rapid increases in labor costs.”

The national unemployment rate is now at 3.7%, relatively unchanged from where things stood a year ago when the rate came in at 3.6%. The highest November rate was seen in 2020, just a little over half a year after the Covid 19 breakout, when it stood at 6.7%.

Looking at it from another angle, November’s 199,000 new jobs was somewhat on the low side: September saw 262,000 additional jobs, while November of 2022 was up by 290,000 jobs.

The biggest most recent one-month gain was recorded in February of 2022, when the nation added more than 904,000 jobs.

The largest industry gainers in November were seen in the healthcare sector, which added 77,000 jobs; government, up by 49,000; and manufacturing, with a 28,000 increase.

The latest numbers were also particular to recent events. Notes the New York Times: “The increase in employment includes tens of thousands of autoworkers and actors who returned to their jobs after strikes, and others in related businesses that had been stalled by the walkouts, meaning underlying job growth is slightly weaker.”

In a statement from the White House, President Biden lauded the November figures, remarking that more than 14 million new jobs have now been created since he took office in January of 2021.

“That’s more than 14 million additional Americans who know the dignity and peace of mind that comes with a paycheck,” Biden remarked.

​By Garry Boulard

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