Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation — 2003-12-05

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. Nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 57,000 in November, and the unemployment rate, at 5.9 percent, was essentially unchanged over the month. Since July, payroll employment has increased by 328,000. Over the month, the number of jobs in health care and social assistance continued to increase, rising by 25,000 in November. The accommodations industry added 13,000 jobs, following losses that totaled 27,000 in the prior 3 months. Although employment in professional and business services was little changed in November, employment in this sector has risen by 181,000 so far this year. About three- quarters of this gain was in temporary help services. Construction employment continued to trend up in November; the industry has added 156,000 jobs since February.