Construction employment increased by 46,000 in November, while employment in manufacturing was flat, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wholesale trade added 9,100 jobs in November.
Overall, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 211,000 in November, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5 percent.
The rise in construction jobs was primarily due to an increase in residential specialty trade contractors (+26,000). Over the past year, construction employment has grown by 259,000.
Job gains also occurred in professional and technical services (+28,000) and health care (+24,000). Employment also trended up in food services and drinking places (+32,000) and retail trade (+31,000). Jobs in mining (-11,000) continued to decline, and information (-12,000) also lost jobs over the month.
Employment in other major industries, including transportation and warehousing, financial activities and government, changed little over the month.
Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 4 cents to $25.25. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by risen by 2.3 percent. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees changed little, at $21.19 in November.
Over the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons were down by 0.8 percentage point and 1.1 million, respectively.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 2.1 million. These individuals accounted for 25.7 percent of the unemployed.
