WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. employers added 266,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate has dropped slightly to 3.5 percent, the lowest in nearly five decades, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Job gains mainly occurred in healthcare and in professional and technical services, the report showed. The number of people employed in manufacturing rose by 54,000 in November, after a decline in October when General Motors workers were on strike.

Employment continued to "trend up" in leisure and hospitality, transportation and warehousing, and financial activities, while the mining sector showed a loss, the report showed.

November's total nonfarm payroll employment is up from October's upwardly revised number of 156,000. September's figure was revised up to 193,000.

Job gains have averaged 180,000 per month so far in 2019, compared with an average monthly gain of 223,000 in 2018, indicating that the overall level of hiring has been slowing down over the past few months.

The unemployment rate slid by 0.1 percentage points to 3.5 percent, the lowest since December 1969. In September, the unemployment rate also hit a five-decade low. Previously, the unemployment rate was at 3.7 percent, from June to August.

Average hourly earnings for all private-sector workers in November rose 7 cents to 28.29 U.S. dollars. Over the year, average hourly earnings increased by 3.1 percent from a year ago. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)