Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2010-12-03

Advance copies of this statement are made available to the press under lock-up conditions with the explicit understanding that the data are embargoed until 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the employment and unemployment data we released this morning. Nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged in November (+39,000), and the unemployment rate edged up to 9.8 percent. The jobless rate had been 9.6 percent in each of the prior 3 months. Payroll employment has increased by an average of 86,000 per month since its recent low point in December 2009. In November, temporary help services and health care added jobs, while employment fell in retail trade. Temporary help services employment increased by 40,000 over the month. Since the industry's most recent low in September 2009, employment has grown by 494,000. In November, health care employment rose by 19,000, including a gain of 8,000 in hospitals.