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.

Statement of

Kathleen P. Utgoff

Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Reissued Monday, December 9, 2002

The job market remained weak in November. The 

unemployment rate rose from 5.7 to 6.0 percent and nonfarm 

payroll employment was little changed (-40,000). There has 

been very little employment growth since the spring of this 

year, as evidenced by both our household and establishment 

surveys. In fact, payroll employment has shown no net 

growth over the past 3 months, after edging up in the 

spring and summer. 

At 6.0 percent in November, the unemployment rate 

matched the level last reached in April of this year. From 

May through October, the jobless rate remained within a 

range of 5.6 to 5.9 percent. The November rise in 

unemployment was concentrated among adult men, whose 

jobless rate increased from 5.2 to 5.7 percent. For the 
2

year prior to November, the rate for adult men held at or 

close to 5.2 percent. The rates for blacks and teenagers 

also rose in November. 

Although overall payroll employment (as measured by 

our establishment survey) changed little in November, there

were offsetting movements among some of the major 

industries. Employment in the nation’s factories continued 

to decline; there was a loss of 45,000 jobs over the month. 

Durable goods manufacturing continued to bear the brunt of 

the job losses, with substantial cutbacks occurring in 

fabricated metals, electronic equipment, and transportation 

equipment. The factory workweek and overtime hours held 

steady over the month, at 40.7 and 4.1 hours, respectively. 

Countering the job losses in manufacturing was an 

employment increase of 50,000 in services, in line with the 

average monthly gain in the industry for this year. Health 

services made up a little over half of the November

increase, with notable gains in hospitals and in nursing 

facilities. Several other component industries within 

services added jobs over the month, but employment in help 

supply services--an industry where employment had been on 
3

the upswing for much of this year--fell for the third month 

in a row.

Employment was down by 39,000 in retail trade after 

seasonal adjustment, due in part to weaker-than-usual 

hiring among miscellaneous retailers. Taking a longer 

perspective, employment in retail trade has continued to 

drift downward thus far in 2002, following steeper losses 

that occurred in the second half of 2001. Employment at 

the wholesale trade level was little changed in November 

but generally has been receding over a longer span of 

time--since early 2000. As with retail trade, the rate of 

job loss tapered off considerably early this year.

Other major industries showed little significant 

change in employment in November, including construction

and government. Within government, Federal employment 

continued to be buoyed by hiring for the Transportation 

Security Administration. 

Average hourly earnings of production or 

nonsupervisory workers in the private sector rose by 4 

cents to $14.93 in November. Over the year, hourly 

earnings increased by 2.9 percent.
4

In summary, the unemployment rate increased to 6.0 

percent in November and total nonfarm payroll employment 

was little changed. Manufacturing employment continued to 

contract by an amount similar to recent decreases, but 

employment in services continued to trend upward, 

especially health services. Job totals in most other major 

industries changed little over the month.