Jobs Report: Unemployment Down Sharply to 4.6 Percent

The latest jobs numbers are out from the federal government. What do they mean for job seekers and employers? Here’s a quick take from Glassdoor’s Chief Economist Dr. Andrew Chamberlain: This morning’s strong jobs report showed the economy added 178,000 new jobs in November, bringing the unemployment rate down sharply to 4.6 percent—the lowest rate since August 2007. Today’s report marks 74 straight months of positive job gains, the longest streak on record. The biggest surprise today was the steep drop in the unemployment rate from 4.9 percent last month to 4.6 percent. That was caused by a combination of good and bad news. The good news is that the number of employed Americans grew by about 160,000 in November. The bad news is the labor force shrank slightly by roughly 226,000 workers. Both factors contributed to the unemployment rate drop. Wages grew more slowly than expected in November according to BLS data, with average hourly wages up just 2.5 percent from a year ago. This is likely a statistical quirk of the BLS monthly survey, and will almost certainly reverse course to strong wage growth again next month. Glassdoor data show median U.S. pay grew by a strong 3.1 percent from a year ago in November—the fastest pace in three years. Job gains in November were broad based, with both white-collar and blue-collar jobs growing at a healthy pace. The biggest job gains last month were in professional and business services (+63,000), health care (+34,700), leisure and hospitality (+29,000), government (+22,000) and construction (+19,000). Just a handful of industries lost jobs, including information (which includes most traditional media) (-10,000), retail (-8,300) and manufacturing (-4,000). Today’s strong jobs report will likely bolster confidence of Federal Reserve policymakers as they prepare for their December meeting. Most economists expect interest rates to rise by one-quarter point at that meeting, and today’s jobs report makes that more likely. As President-elect Trump prepares to move into the White House, he will be inheriting one of the strongest job markets in a generation. As the new administration takes office, we’ll be watching closely for the impact of new policies on jobs, wages and the broader economy. To speak with Dr. Andrew Chamberlain about today’s jobs report or to discuss labor market trends, contact pr at Glassdoor dot com. For the latest economics and labor market updates, follow @adchamberlain on Twitter and subscribe to Glassdoor Economic Research.