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 

Erica L. Groshen 

Commissioner 

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Friday, December 2, 2016

The unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 

4.6 percent in November, and nonfarm payroll employment 

increased by 178,000. Job growth continued in professional and 

business services and in health care. Thus far this year, 

nonfarm job growth has averaged 180,000 per month, compared with 

an average gain of 229,000 per month in 2015. 

Incorporating revisions for September and October, which 

reduced nonfarm payroll employment by 2,000 on net, monthly job 

gains have averaged 176,000 over the past 3 months. 

Employment in professional and business services increased 

by 63,000 in November and has expanded by 571,000 over the year. 

Within the industry, accounting and bookkeeping services added 

18,000 jobs over the month. Employment continued to trend up in 

administrative and support services (+36,000), computer systems 

design and related services (+5,000), and management and 

technical consulting services (+4,000). 
2 

Health care employment rose by 28,000 in November, with a 

gain of 22,000 in ambulatory health care services. Health care 

has added 407,000 jobs over the year. 

Employment in construction continued on its recent upward 

trend in November (+19,000), led by a gain in residential 

specialty trade contractors (+15,000). Over the past 3 months, 

construction has added 59,000 jobs, largely in residential 

construction. 

Employment in other major industries--mining, 

manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and 

warehousing, information, financial activities, leisure and 

hospitality, and government--changed little over the month. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls decreased by 3 cents in November to $25.89, following 

an 11-cent increase in October. Over the past 12 months, average 

hourly earnings have risen by 2.5 percent. From October 2015 to 

October 2016, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers 

(CPI-U) increased by 1.6 percent (on a seasonally adjusted 

basis). 

Turning to measures from the survey of households, the 

unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 4.6 

percent in November. The number of unemployed people fell by 

387,000 over the month to 7.4 million. The decrease was largely 

among adult men. From August 2015 through October 2016, both the 
3 

unemployment rate and the number of unemployed people had shown 

little movement on net. 

In November, the number of people searching for work for 27 

weeks or more was little changed at 1.9 million. These long-term 

unemployed accounted for 24.8 percent of the total unemployed. 

The labor force participation rate, at 62.7 percent, was 

about unchanged in November, and the employment-population ratio 

held at 59.7 percent. Both measures have shown little movement 

in recent months. 

In November, there were 5.7 million people working part 

time for economic reasons (also referred to as involuntary parttime workers). This measure was little changed over the month 

but was down by 416,000 from a year earlier. 

Among those neither working nor looking for work in 

November, 1.9 million were considered marginally attached to the 

labor force, up from 1.7 million a year earlier. Discouraged 

workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that 

no jobs were available for them, numbered 591,000 in November, 

essentially unchanged from a year earlier. (Marginally attached 

to the labor force refers to people who had not looked for work 

in the 4 weeks prior to the survey but wanted a job, were 

available for work, and had looked for a job within the last 12 

months.) 
4 

In summary, the unemployment rate declined to 4.6 percent 

in November, and nonfarm payroll employment increased by 

178,000.