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 

Friday, December 2, 2011

The unemployment rate fell from 9.0 to 8.6 percent in 

November, and nonfarm payroll employment rose by 120,000. 

November’s gain in payroll jobs was in line with the average 

increase over the prior 12 months (+131,000). Over the month, 

employment continued to trend up in retail trade, professional 

and business services, health care, and leisure and hospitality. 

Retail employment increased by 50,000 in November, with 

both clothing and accessories stores and electronics and 

appliance stores adding jobs over the month. Since a recent low 

in December 2009, retail employment has increased by 319,000. 

Professional and business services employment continued to 

trend up in November (+33,000), with a modest gain in temporary 

help services. Health care employment also continued to expand 

in November (+17,000). Within this industry, hospitals added 

9,000 jobs. 
2 

In the leisure and hospitality industry, employment in food 

services and drinking places rose by 33,000 over the month. The 

gain more than offset an employment decline of 12,000 in the 

accommodation industry. Over the last 12 months, leisure and 

hospitality added 253,000 jobs, largely in food services. 

Employment in other major private-sector industries changed 

little over the month. Government employment continued to trend 

down. Since the second half of 2008, state and local government 

combined have shed about 600,000 jobs, with the vast majority 

from local government. 

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm 

payrolls declined by 2 cents in November to $23.18. Over the 

past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 1.8 

percent. From October 2010 to October 2011, the Consumer Price 

Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased by 3.6 percent. 

Turning to measures from the survey of households, the 

unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage point to 8.6 percent in 

November. Prior to this decline, the jobless rate had shown 

little change since April. 

There were 13.3 million unemployed persons in November, a 

decline of 594,000 from October. The labor force, which is the 

sum of the unemployed and the employed, was down by a little 

more than half that amount. The labor force participation rate, 

at 64.0 percent, declined over the month but has remained in the 
3 

narrow range of 63.9 to 64.2 percent thus far in 2011. The 

employment-population ratio, at 58.5 percent, was little changed 

over the month. 

In November, the jobless rate for adult men (those age 20 

and over) fell by half a percentage point to 8.3 percent. 

Employment among adult men rose over the month, and their labor 

force participation rate (73.4 percent) was unchanged. In 

contrast, the unemployment rate for adult women (7.8 percent) 

changed little, but their labor force participation rate (59.5 

percent) declined. 

In summary, the unemployment rate was 8.6 percent in 

November, down by 0.4 percentage point over the month. Nonfarm 

payroll employment rose by 120,000.