November 2025 Employment Situation — 2025-12-16

Total nonfarm payroll employment changed little in November (+64,000) and has shown little net change since April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In November, the unemployment rate, at 4.6 percent, was little changed from September. Employment rose in health care and construction in November, while federal government continued to lose jobs. This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical Note. In November, both the unemployment rate, at 4.6 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.8 million, were little changed from September. These measures are higher than last November, when the jobless rate was 4.2 percent, and the number of unemployed people was 7.1 million. (See table A-1.