Happy holidays: U.S. economy adds 321,000 jobs in November

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Employers added a whopping 321,000 jobs in November.

Eric Jay Toll

Reporter- Phoenix Business Journal

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The unemployment rate remained the same, but November saw a holiday-sized increase in the number of jobs created.

Private employers added 321,000 jobs last month – nearly 100,000 jobs higher than the average over the past year, even while the unemployment rate remained at 5.8 percent.

Unemployment among adult males rose to 5.4 percent, but unemployment among women, whites, blacks and Hispanics held steady during the month, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Other key employment indicators held steady, including the number of long-term unemployed, with 2.8 million people in that category. The participation rate is still low, 62.8 percent, and has held at that number since April. It is up over 0.6 percent from last year.

The involuntarily part-time work force held steady at 6.9 million, reflecting limited holiday-season hiring or late-hiring data. The involuntary part-time work force are skilled employees working less than 30 hours per week out of necessity rather than choice.

The new jobs were scattered across sectors, but were led by gains in professional and business services, retail trade, health care and manufacturing.

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Eric covers economic development, banking and finance, infrastructure, transportation and utilities.