#USNonFarmPayrollReport US job growth beats expectations in November; unemployment rate at 4.6%
WASHINGTON — U.S. job growth rebounded in November after nonfarm payrolls declined in October because of government spending cuts, but the unemployment rate was at 4.6% as the labor market weakens against the backdrop of economic uncertainty stemming from President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policy.
The delayed employment report for November and a partial update for October published by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday did not include the unemployment rate and other metrics for October after the 43-day shutdown of the government prevented the collection of data from households.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 64,000 jobs last month, the BLS said. The economy shed 105,000 jobs in October, reflecting the departure of more than 150,000 federal employees who took deferred buyouts as part of the Trump administration’s push to shrink the government’s footprint. Most of them dropped off government payrolls at the end of September.
Payrolls were not impacted by the furloughing of workers during the longest shutdown in history as they were retroactively paid when the government reopened.
The unemployment rate was at 4.4% in September. The BLS made changes to weights for labor force estimates because no data was collected in October.
Ahead of the employment report, the BLS said November labor force estimates “will have slightly higher variances than usual,” adding the weighting change “will not be needed for the December estimates, which will return to the usual composite weighting methodology.”
