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

Keith Hall

Commissioner

Bureau of Labor Statistics

before the

Joint Economic Committee

UNITED STATES CONGRESS

Friday, December 5, 2008

Madam Chair and Members of the Committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the employment and 

unemployment data we released this morning.

Nonfarm payroll employment declined by 533,000 in November,

with large and widespread losses occurring across the major 

industry sectors. November's drop in payroll employment 

followed declines of 403,000 in September and 320,000 in 

October, as revised. The unemployment rate, at 6.7 percent, 

continued to trend up in November and has risen by 1.7 

percentage points since the recession started in December 2007

(as designated by the National Bureau of Economic Research). 
2

Over the past 3 months, job losses have averaged 419,000

per month, sharply higher than the average loss of 82,000 per 

month from January through August. About two-thirds of the 

recent job declines have occurred in the service-providing 

sector of the economy. In the first 8 months of this year, job 

losses were largely limited to construction and manufacturing.

Manufacturing job losses continued in November (-85,000). 

Factory job losses would have been larger were it not for the 

return to work of 27,000 aerospace workers who had been on 

strike. Over the month, employment declines occurred throughout 

the manufacturing sector. Motor vehicle and parts manufacturers 

shed 13,000 jobs over the month; employment in this industry has 

fallen by 135,000 since December. Manufacturing hours and 

overtime each declined by 0.2 hour in November. 

Construction employment was down by 82,000 over the month. 

Since a peak in September 2006, employment in this industry has 

fallen by 780,000, largely in the residential sector. Over the 

past 3 months, job losses have been evenly distributed between 

residential and nonresidential construction. 

Employment also declined throughout the service-providing 

sector. The largest loss (-101,000) was in employment services, 

which includes temporary help agencies. Employment services has 

lost 495,000 jobs so far in 2008. 
3

Retail trade employment fell by 91,000 in November, with 

the largest job loss among automobile dealers (-24,000); since 

December, auto dealers have shed 115,000 jobs. Employment also 

decreased after seasonal adjustment in clothing stores; sporting 

goods, hobby, book, and music stores; and furniture and home 

furnishings stores. Wholesale trade employment fell by 25,000 

in November and by 123,000 so far in 2008. 

Leisure and hospitality employment contracted by 76,000 in 

November; the accommodation and food services industry accounted 

for most of the decrease. Elsewhere in the service-providing 

sector, sizable employment declines also occurred in financial 

activities (-32,000), transportation and warehousing (-32,000), 

and information (-19,000). 

In contrast to most industries, health care added jobs in 

November. Employment in the industry rose by 34,000 over the 

month and has increased by 341,000 so far this year. The 

November gain reflected jobs added in nursing and residential 

care facilities, hospitals, and offices of physicians. 

Average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory 

workers in the private sector rose by 7 cents, or 0.4 percent,

in November. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings 

have increased by 3.7 percent. From October 2007 to October 

2008, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and 

Clerical Workers (CPI-W) rose by 3.8 percent. 
4

Turning to labor market measures from the survey of 

households, the unemployment rate continued to increase in 

November. At 6.7 percent, the rate was up by 0.2 percentage 

point over the month and by 1.7 percentage points since

December. 

In November, 10.3 million persons were unemployed, up by 

2.7 million from December. About 2.2 million of the unemployed 

in November had been jobless for 27 weeks or more, an increase 

of 868,000 thus far in 2008. 

Both the labor force participation rate, at 65.8 percent,

and the employment-population ratio, at 61.4 percent, decreased 

over the month. The employment-population ratio has declined by 

1.3 percentage points since December. 

The number of persons working part time who would have 

preferred full-time employment increased by 621,000 in November

to 7.3 million. Thus far in 2008, the number of such workers 

has grown by nearly 2.7 million.

In summary, nonfarm payroll employment declined by 533,000 

in November after having fallen by 723,000 over the prior 2 

months combined. The unemployment rate rose to 6.7 percent in 

November, 1.7 percentage points above the December rate.

My colleagues and I now would be glad to answer your 

questions.