Transmission of material in this statement is embargoed until 

8:30 a.m. (ET) December 4, 2020. 

Statement of 

William W. Beach 

Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Friday, December 4, 2020

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 245,000 in 

November, and the unemployment rate edged down to 6.7 percent. 

These improvements reflect the continued resumption of economic 

activity that had been curtailed due to the coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic and efforts to contain it. However, the pace of 

improvement in the labor market has moderated in recent months. 

In November, private nonfarm employment rose by 344,000, 

while employment in government declined by 99,000. In the 

private sector, notable employment gains occurred in 

transportation and warehousing, professional and business 

services, and health care, while retail trade lost jobs. 

The November increase in nonfarm payroll employment marked 

the 7th consecutive month of job gains, although the magnitude 

was considerably lower than in the prior 6 months. Employment is 

down by 9.8 million (or 6.5 percent) since February, before the 

onset of the pandemic in the United States. 
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Although the unemployment rate edged down in November, the 

jobless rate and the number of unemployed people are up by 3.2 

percentage points and 4.9 million, respectively, since February. 

The response rate for the establishment survey was about 

average in November. The rate for the household survey, while 

slightly below normal due to pandemic-related issues, was much 

higher than earlier in the pandemic. The impact of the pandemic 

on the household and establishment surveys is detailed in the 

November Employment Situation news release and accompanying 

materials (available on the BLS website at 

www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_12042020.htm). 

Taking a closer look at the November payroll data, 

employment in transportation and warehousing grew by 145,000, 

representing nearly three-fifths of the over-the-month growth in 

total nonfarm employment. Within transportation and warehousing, 

employment rose over the month in couriers and messengers 

(+82,000), warehousing and storage (+37,000), and truck 

transportation (+13,000). Transportation and warehousing lost 

595,000 jobs in March, April, and May combined. Since May, the 

industry has regained 472,000, or nearly 80 percent, of the jobs 

lost in the early months of the pandemic. 

In November, professional and business services added 

60,000 jobs, with about half the gain occurring in temporary 

help services (+32,000). Services to buildings and dwellings 
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added 14,000 jobs. Since February, employment in professional 

and business services is down by 1.1 million. 

Employment in health care increased by 46,000 in November 

but is down by 527,000 since February. Over the month, job gains 

occurred in offices of physicians (+21,000), home health care 

services (+13,000), and offices of other health practitioners 

(+8,000). Employment in nursing care facilities declined by 

12,000 in November and by 147,000 since February. 

Construction employment increased by 27,000 in November. 

Job gains occurred in residential specialty trade contractors 

(+14,000) and in heavy and civil engineering construction 

(+10,000). Since February, construction employment is down by 

279,000. 

Manufacturing employment grew by 27,000 in November but is 

down by 599,000 since February. Over the month, employment 

increased in motor vehicles and parts (+15,000), plastics and 

rubber products (+5,000), and furniture and related products 

(+3,000). 

In November, employment in financial activities rose by 

15,000, with gains in real estate (+10,000) and nondepository 

credit intermediation (+8,000). 

Employment in wholesale trade continued to trend up in 

November (+10,000), driven by job growth in its durable goods 

component (+14,000). 
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Employment in government declined by 99,000 in November. 

Federal government employment was down by 86,000, reflecting a 

loss of 93,000 temporary workers who had been hired for the 2020 

Census. Employment in local government education continued to 

trend down (-21,000). 

Retail trade lost 35,000 jobs in November, and employment 

in the industry is down by 550,000 since February. In November, 

job losses occurred in general merchandise stores (-21,000); 

sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores (-12,000); 

electronics and appliance stores (-11,000); and health and 

personal care stores (-8,000). These job losses were partially 

offset by small gains in furniture and home furnishings stores 

(+6,000) and automobile dealers (+4,000). 

Employment in leisure and hospitality changed little in 

November (+31,000). Within the industry, employment in food 

services and drinking places changed little over the month 

(-17,000) and is down by 2.1 million since February. Employment 

in arts, entertainment, and recreation increased by 43,000 in 

November. 

Employment in other major industries--including mining, 

information, and other services--showed little change over the 

month. 
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Average weekly hours for all private-sector workers were 

unchanged in November at 34.8 hours. The average workweek for 

manufacturing decreased by 0.2 hour to 40.3 hours. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls increased by 9 cents in November to $29.58. 

Turning to the labor market indicators from the household 

survey, the unemployment rate edged down to 6.7 percent in 

November. The number of unemployed people, at 10.7 million, 

continued to trend down. Although considerably lower than the 

recent peaks in April of this year, both measures are nearly 

twice their pre-pandemic levels in February. 

The number of unemployed people on temporary layoff 

decreased by 441,000 to 2.8 million in November. The number of 

permanent job losers, at 3.7 million, was little changed over 

the month. The number of people who became unemployed after 

completing temporary jobs increased by 155,000 to 978,000 in 

November. 

The unemployment rate declined in November for adult women 

(6.1 percent). The rates for adult men (6.7 percent), teenagers 

(14.0 percent), Whites (5.9 percent), Blacks (10.3 percent), 

Asians (6.7 percent), and Hispanics (8.4 percent) showed little 

or no change over the month. 

Among the unemployed, the number of people searching for 

work for 27 weeks or more (often referred to as the long-term 
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unemployed) increased by 385,000 in November to 3.9 million. 

These long-term unemployed accounted for 36.9 percent of the 

unemployed. The number of people who were jobless 15 to 26 weeks 

decreased by 760,000 to 1.9 million. The number of people who 

were unemployed for 5 to 14 weeks and people unemployed for less 

than 5 weeks were little changed, at 2.4 million and 2.5 

million, respectively. 

The labor force participation rate edged down to 61.5 

percent in November and is 1.9 percentage points lower than in 

February. The employment-population ratio, at 57.3 percent, 

changed little in November; the rate is 3.8 percentage points 

lower than in February. 

In November, the number of people who usually work full 

time increased by 752,000 to 124.3 million, and the number who 

usually work part time decreased by 779,000 to 25.4 million. 

The number of people at work part time for economic reasons 

in November was little changed at 6.7 million. (This group 

includes people who usually work full time and people who 

usually work part time.) The number of people affected by this 

type of underemployment was 4.2 million lower than a recent peak 

in April 2020 but 2.3 million higher than in February. 

The number of people not in the labor force who currently 

want a job increased by 448,000 in November to 7.1 million, 
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following a decline of 539,000 in October. This measure is 2.2 

million higher than in February. 

Among those who were not in the labor force but wanted a 

job, 2.1 million were considered marginally attached to the 

labor force in November, little changed from October. (People 

who are marginally attached to the labor force had not actively 

looked for work in the 4 weeks prior to the survey but had 

looked for a job within the last 12 months.) The number of 

discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who 

believed that no jobs were available for them, at 657,000 in 

November, also changed little over the month. 

Since March, household survey interviewers have been 

instructed to classify employed people absent from work due to 

temporary, coronavirus-related business closures or cutbacks as 

unemployed on temporary layoff. 

As occurred in previous months, some workers affected by 

the pandemic who should have been classified as unemployed on 

temporary layoff in November were instead misclassified as 

employed but not at work. However, the share of responses that 

may have been misclassified was considerably smaller in recent 

months than at the onset of the pandemic. 

For March through October, BLS published an estimate of 

what the unemployment rate would have been had misclassified 

workers been included among the unemployed. Repeating this same 
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approach, the overall November unemployment rate would have been 

0.4 percentage point higher than reported. However, this 

represents the upper bound of our estimate of misclassification 

and probably overstates the size of the misclassification error. 

Additional information is available on the BLS website at 

www.bls.gov/covid19/employment-situation-covid19-faq-november2020.htm. 

Looking at supplemental pandemic-related measures from the 

household survey (these supplemental data are not seasonally 

adjusted), 21.8 percent of employed people teleworked in 

November because of the coronavirus pandemic, up from 21.2 

percent in October. These data refer to employed people who 

teleworked or worked at home for pay at some point in the last 4 

weeks specifically because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

In November, 14.8 million people reported that they had 

been unable to work because their employer closed or lost 

business due to the pandemic--that is, they did not work at all 

or worked fewer hours at some point in the last 4 weeks due to 

the pandemic. This measure was little changed from the prior 

month. Among those who reported in November that they were 

unable to work because of pandemic-related closures or lost 

business, 13.7 percent received at least some pay from their 

employer for the hours not worked, up 2.0 percentage points from 

October. 
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About 3.9 million people not in the labor force in November 

were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic, up 

from 3.6 million in October. (To be counted as unemployed, by 

definition, individuals must either be actively searching for 

work or on temporary layoff.) 

In summary, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 

245,000 in November, and the unemployment rate edged down to 6.7 

percent.