Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release — 2019-12-06

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 rose by 266,000 in November, and the unemployment rate, at 3.5 percent, was little changed. Notable job gains occurred in health care and in professional and technical services. Manufacturing employment increased as workers in motor vehicles and parts returned from a strike. Incorporating revisions for September and October, which increased nonfarm payroll employment by 41,000, job growth has averaged 180,000 per month thus far in 2019. The average job gain was 223,000 per month in 2018. Employment in health care increased by 45,000 in November, with gains occurring in ambulatory health care services (+34,000) and in hospitals (+10,000). Over the past 12 months, health care has added 414,000 jobs. In November, employment rose by 31,000 in professional and technical services.