U.S. Unemployment Hits 5-Year Low
The national unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level in five years last month to 7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said today.
Unemployment was down from 7.3 percent in October, with 203,000 jobs added in November. The BLS said 10.9 million people claimed unemployment and the number who reported being temporarily laid off was down by 377,000, largely due to federal employees impacted by the partial government shutdown in October returning to work.
The last time the jobless rate was at or below 7 percent was November 2008, when it was 6.8 percent, before jumping to 7.3 percent that December.
The BLS said the addition of 203,000 nonfarm jobs was higher than the 2013 monthly average of 195,000. Employment in November saw the biggest gains in professional and business services (35,000 jobs), transportation and warehousing (28,000), health care (28,000), and manufacturing (27,000).
Retail employment and leisure and hospitality were also up in November, gaining 22,000 jobs and 18,000 jobs, respectively. Both gains were slightly below the monthly average for the year.
Construction gained 17,000 jobs.
The BLS said employment in other major industries such as wholesale trade, information and financial activities saw little or no change last month.
It also announced revised jobs numbers for September and October, with a total of 8,000 more jobs being added over those two months than initially estimated.
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