Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation News Release - 2021 M11 Results — 2021-12-03

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 210,000 in November, and the unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 4.2 percent. Notable job gains occurred in professional and business services, transportation and warehousing, construction, and manufacturing. Employment in retail trade declined over the month. Thus far this year, monthly job growth has averaged 555,000. Employment has increased by 18.5 million since April 2020 but is down by 3.9 million, or 2.6 percent, from its level before the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in February 2020. Employment in professional and business services increased by 90,000 in November. Within the industry, employment in the professional and technical services component rose by 44,000 over the month and is 367,000 higher than in February 2020.