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

Philip L. Rones

Acting Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Friday, December 8, 2006

Payroll employment rose by 132,000 in November, and 

the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.5 

percent. The November employment gain followed increases 

of 203,000 in September and 79,000 in October (as revised). 

Over the month, employment rose in several serviceproviding industries. Job losses continued in construction 

and manufacturing. 

Employment in professional and business services 

continued to grow in November (43,000). Over the year, the 

industry has added 426,000 jobs. Growth has occurred 

during this period in a number of the component industries, 

including architectural and engineering services, 

management consulting services, and computer systems 

design.
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Health care employment rose by 28,000 in November, 

bringing the increase over the year to 309,000. In 

November, job growth continued in hospitals and in 

ambulatory health care services, which includes doctors’ 

offices.

Within the leisure and hospitality sector, employment 

growth continued in food services and drinking places, 

which added 34,000 jobs over the month and 295,000 over the 

year.

Employment in retail trade edged up in November, with 

gains in health and personal care stores; clothing and 

accessory stores; sporting goods, hobby, book, and music 

stores; and nonstore retailers, which include catalog and 

internet retailers. Over the month, job losses continued 

in general merchandise stores, after seasonal adjustment. 

Employment in this industry has decreased by 107,000 since 

August 2005. 

Employment continued to grow in mining in November. 

Since its low point in April 2003, mining employment has 

risen by 136,000, mainly in support activities. 

Construction employment fell sharply for the second 

month in a row. The November decline (-29,000) was 

widespread across the component industries. Since peaking 

in February of this year, residential specialty trades
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employment has fallen by 109,000. Nonresidential specialty 

trades added jobs during the first 10 months of the year, 

but employment in the industry edged down in November.

Employment in manufacturing continued its downward 

trend in November (-15,000). The over-the-month decline 

was concentrated in durable goods manufacturing. 

Employment continued to fall in motor vehicles and in two 

construction-related industries--wood products and 

furniture. In November, both the manufacturing workweek 

and factory overtime decreased by 0.1 hour to 41.1 and 4.2 

hours, respectively. 

Average hourly earnings for private production and 

nonsupervisory workers increased 3 cents in November to 

$16.94, a gain of 0.2 percent. Over the year, average 

hourly earnings rose by 4.1 percent.

Most major indicators from the survey of households 

showed little or no change in November. The civilian labor 

force increased by 383,000 persons over the month, and the 

labor force participation rate was 66.3 percent. The 

unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in November, essentially 

unchanged from 4.4 percent in October. The unemployment 

rate had ranged from 4.6 to 4.8 percent in the first 9 

months of the year.
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In summary, payroll employment rose by 132,000 in 

November, and the unemployment rate was 4.5 percent.