Employment Situation Summary
Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm
Technical information: USDL 00-355
Household data: (202) 691-6378
Transmission of material in this release is
Establishment data: 691-6555 embargoed until 8:30 A.M. (EST),
Media contact: 691-5902 Friday, December 8, 2000.
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: NOVEMBER 2000
Payroll employment increased by 94,000 in November, and the unemployment
rate was essentially unchanged at 4.0 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Employment rose by 148,000
in the private sector, with gains in the service-producing industries.
Employment was little changed in the goods-producing industries and declined
in government. Average hourly earnings increased by 6 cents.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
Both the number of unemployed persons (5.7 million) and the unemployment
rate (4.0 percent) were essentially unchanged in November. The jobless
rate has remained within the 3.9- to 4.1-percent range since October 1999.
Unemployment rates for most of the major worker groups--adult men
(3.5 percent), adult women (3.4 percent), teenagers (13.1 percent), whites
(3.5 percent), and blacks (7.4 percent)--showed little change over the month.
The rate for Hispanics rose to 6.1 percent. (See tables A-1 and A-2.)
Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
The civilian labor force was little changed in November at 141.1 million,
and the labor force participation rate was unchanged at 67.0 percent. Total
employment, at 135.4 million, and the employment-population ratio, at
64.3 percent, were essentially unchanged. (See table A-1.)
The number of persons working part time for economic reasons increased
by 277,000 to 3.5 million. These people indicated that they would like to
work full time, but worked part time because their hours had been cut back
or they were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-4.)
About 7.5 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) held more than one
job in November. These multiple jobholders represented 5.5 percent of
total employment, compared with 6.0 percent a year earlier. (See table A-10.)
Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
About 1.1 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally
attached to the labor force in November. These people wanted and were
available to work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months.
They were not counted as unemployed, however, because they had not actively
searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of
discouraged workers was 234,000 in November. Discouraged workers, a subset
of the marginally attached, were not currently looking for work specifically
because they believed no jobs were available for them. (See table A-10.)
- 2 -
Table A. Major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
___________________________________________________________________________
| Quarterly | Monthly data |
| averages | |
|_________________|__________________________| Oct.-
Category | 2000 | 2000 | Nov.
|_________________|__________________________|change
| II | III | Sept. | Oct. | Nov. |
______________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
HOUSEHOLD DATA | Labor force status
|____________________________________________________
Civilian labor force..| 140,827| 140,593| 140,639| 140,918| 141,052| 134
Employment..........| 135,200| 134,941| 135,161| 135,422| 135,373| -49
Unemployment........| 5,627| 5,652| 5,477| 5,496| 5,679| 183
Not in labor force....| 68,550| 69,348| 69,522| 69,460| 69,525| 65
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Unemployment rates
|____________________________________________________
All workers...........| 4.0| 4.0| 3.9| 3.9| 4.0| 0.1
Adult men...........| 3.3| 3.2| 3.2| 3.4| 3.5| .1
Adult women.........| 3.7| 3.6| 3.5| 3.4| 3.4| .0
Teenagers...........| 12.3| 13.5| 12.8| 12.6| 13.1| .5
White...............| 3.4| 3.5| 3.5| 3.4| 3.5| .1
Black...............| 7.7| 7.6| 7.0| 7.3| 7.4| .1
Hispanic origin.....| 5.6| 5.6| 5.6| 5.0| 6.1| 1.1
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
ESTABLISHMENT DATA | Employment
|____________________________________________________
Nonfarm employment....| 131,552| 131,619| 131,723|p131,800|p131,894| p94
Goods-producing 1/..| 25,703| 25,680| 25,639| p25,660| p25,656| p-4
Construction......| 6,676| 6,688| 6,720| p6,742| p6,736| p-6
Manufacturing.....| 18,488| 18,453| 18,380| p18,377| p18,378| p1
Service-producing 1/| 105,849| 105,940| 106,084|p106,140|p106,238| p98
Retail trade......| 23,128| 23,189| 23,179| p23,190| p23,236| p46
Services..........| 40,272| 40,553| 40,685| p40,685| p40,750| p65
Government........| 20,827| 20,536| 20,491| p20,494| p20,440| p-54
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Hours of work 2/
|____________________________________________________
Total private.........| 34.5| 34.4| 34.4| p34.4| p34.3| p-0.1
Manufacturing.......| 41.7| 41.5| 41.3| p41.4| p41.1| p-.3
Overtime..........| 4.7| 4.5| 4.4| p4.5| p4.3| p-.2
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Indexes of aggregate weekly hours (1982=100) 2/
|____________________________________________________
Total private.........| 151.2| 151.2| 151.4| p151.8| p151.6| p-0.2
|________|________|________|________|________|_______
| Earnings 2/
|____________________________________________________
Avg. hourly earnings, | | | | | |
total private.......| $13.67| $13.79| $13.83| p$13.88| p$13.94| p$0.06
Avg. weekly earnings, | | | | | |
total private.......| 471.50| 474.03| 475.75| p477.47| p478.14| p.67
______________________|________|________|________|________|________|_______
1/ Includes other industries, not shown separately.
2/ Data relate to private production or nonsupervisory workers.
p=preliminary.
- 3 -
Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 94,000 to 131.9 million in
November, seasonally adjusted. Private-sector employment grew by 148,000,
after rising by only 74,000 in October. Employment growth was generally
stronger in the first half of 2000 than in the last 5 months. All of the
November private-sector gain occurred among service-producing industries.
Government employment declined by 54,000, with decreases occurring
primarily at the federal and local levels. (See table B-1.)
In the service-producing sector, services industry employment increased
by 65,000 in November, following no growth in October. Hospitals added
15,000 jobs in November, compared with average growth of only 3,000 for the
prior 12 months. Computer and data processing services gained 11,000 jobs,
the second consecutive month of larger-than-average gains, while engineering
and management services added 12,000 jobs. In contrast, amusement and
recreation services employment fell by 15,000. Employment declined in help
supply services for the second month in a row. This industry, which had
added 316,000 jobs in the 12 months ending in April of this year, has lost
71,000 since then.
Retail trade added 46,000 jobs in November. Department stores gained
38,000 jobs, compared with an average monthly loss of 3,000 over the first
10 months of this year. Employment in eating and drinking places grew by
17,000 after three consecutive monthly losses. The number of jobs in
miscellaneous retail establishments (such as drug, jewelry, and toy stores)
decreased by 14,000, seasonally adjusted, in November.
Wholesale trade employment rose by 14,000 in November, the second
consecutive month of above-average growth. Nearly all of the job gains
were in nondurable goods distribution.
Transportation and public utilities added 16,000 jobs in November, about
in line with its monthly average for the first 10 months of the year. Air
transportation (10,000) and communications (6,000) showed strength for the
second consecutive month.
Finance, insurance, and real estate employment increased by 11,000 in
November. This industry has had four consecutive monthly gains following
declines earlier in the year. The largest employment gains occurred among
insurance carriers, where employment had been in a declining trend since
June 1999.
Real estate continued to add jobs. Employment in security brokerages
was little changed; this industry had added jobs in every month since early
last year.
Government employment fell by 54,000 in November. Both state and local
education agencies showed job declines in November after seasonal adjustment.
Local government education employment is 8,000 below the level at the close
of the prior school year in May. Employment in local government agencies
besides education declined by 18,000 over the month. Federal government
employment fell by 13,000 in November, after seasonal adjustment, largely
due to weak seasonal hiring of postal workers.
In the goods-producing sector, employment in manufacturing was about
unchanged for the second month in a row, following 2 months of large
losses. In November, job gains in durable goods were offset by losses in
nondurable goods. Within durables, electronic components added 8,000 jobs,
raising the gain so far this year to 54,000. Industrial machinery (6,000)
and instruments and related products (4,000) also added jobs. In nondurables,
textiles and apparel continued their long downward trends, and rubber and
plastics lost 4,000 jobs.
Construction employment was about unchanged in November, following 2
months of job gains. Unusually cold November weather curtailed outdoor
work activities, particularly heavy construction, which lost 7,000 jobs.
Elsewhere in the goods-producing sector, the oil and gas industry continued
to add jobs.
- 4 -
Weekly Hours (Establishment Survey Data)
The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour in November to 34.3 hours, seasonally
adjusted. The manufacturing workweek declined by 0.3 hour to 41.1 hours,
following an increase of 0.1 hour in October. In November, manufacturing
overtime declined by 0.2 hour to 4.3 hours. (See table B-2.)
The index of aggregate weekly hours of production or nonsupervisory
workers on private nonfarm payrolls declined by 0.1 percent to 151.6
(1982=100), seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing index fell by 0.7 percent
to 104.3. (See table B-5.)
Hourly and Weekly Earnings (Establishment Survey Data)
Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on
private nonfarm payrolls increased by 6 cents in November to $13.94,
seasonally adjusted. Over the month, average weekly earnings increased by
0.1 percent to $478.14. Over the year, average hourly earnings rose by
4.0 percent and average weekly earnings grew by 3.3 percent. (See table B-3.)
______________________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Following usual practice, the 6-month updates to seasonal |
| adjustment factors for the establishment survey data are introduced |
| with this release. These factors were used in the revisions to the |
| September and October data as well as in the November estimates, and |
| will be used through the April 2001 estimates. These factors will be|
| published in the December 2000 issue of Employment and Earnings and |
| are available on the Internet (http://stats.bls.gov/ceshome.htm) or |
| by calling (202) 691-6555. |
| Also in accordance with usual practice, the release of December |
| data will incorporate annual revisions in seasonally adjusted |
| unemployment and other labor force series from the household survey. |
| Seasonally adjusted data for the most recent 5 years are subject to |
| revision. |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Employment Situation for December 2000 is scheduled to be released
on Friday, January 5, 2001, at 8:30 A.M. (EST). Release dates for the
balance of 2001 are as follows:
Feb. 2 May 4 Aug. 3 Nov. 2
March 9 June 1 Sept. 7 Dec. 7
April 6 July 6 Oct. 5
Bureau of Labor Statistics
mailto:cpsinfotesting@bls.gov
Last
modified: Friday, December 08, 2000
URL: /news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
Table of Contents 
Labor Force Statistics from the Current
Population Survey