December 11, 2002 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Employment little changed in November

Total nonfarm payroll employment was little changed in November at 130.9 million. This followed a decline of 84,000 in September and an increase of 86,000 in October (as revised). Payroll employment had increased by 233,000 from April to August, after falling by 1.8 million from March 2001 to April 2002.

[Chart data—TXT]

In November, manufacturing employment fell by 45,000. Factory job losses have averaged about 48,000 in the last 4 months, compared with losses of 20,000 a month from April to July. Construction employment was flat in November. Job gains in general building contractors were offset by losses in heavy construction. Construction industry employment has shown no net growth since spring of this year.

Retail trade employment was down by 39,000 in November, after seasonal adjustment. This was due in part to less seasonal hiring than usual in November. Employment in the services industry rose by 50,000 in November. Health services added 27,000 jobs, with hospitals accounting for about half of his increase. In finance, employment continued to increase in mortgage brokerages as refinancing activity maintained a healthy pace.

These employment data are a product of the Current Employment Statistics program.  For more information, see The Employment Situation: November 2002 (PDF) (TXT), USDL 02-680, December 9, 2002.