The US jobs market keeps beating the odds, adding another 263,000 jobs in November

A “now hiring” sign is displayed in a window in Manhattan on July 28, 2022 in New York City.

The US gained 263,000 nonfarm payrolls in November, better than the 200,000 economists expected.
The unemployment rate stayed the same at 3.7%.
November’s gain shows ongoing strength in the jobs market.
This article is part of Talent Insider, a series containing expert advice to help small business owners tackle a range of hiring challenges.

The US jobs market continues to thrive.

There were 263,000 nonfarm payrolls added in November, according to the latest release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That’s higher than what economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected — a median forecast of 200,000 jobs added.

October’s job creation was revised from 261,000 to 284,000. September’s data was also revised from 315,000 payrolls added that month to 269,000

The US unemployment rate stayed the same in November at 3.7%, matching expectations from economists surveyed by Bloomberg and the same as October’s 3.7%. 

BLS previously released Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) results for October on Wednesday which showed job openings remaining elevated but slightly down from September’s estimate — another sign of some cooling. Quits didn’t change much in October with a large figure of 4.0 million.

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“Rumors of the labor market’s demise have been greatly exaggerated,” Nick Bunker, head of economic research at Indeed Hiring Lab, said following the release of the latest JOLTS report.  “The outlook for next year is still hazy with an aggressive Federal Reserve willing to raise unemployment to bring inflation down. But as we head to the end of 2022, the US labor market remains resilient.”

The “temperature is still high” in the labor market as Bunker told Insider after the last jobs report. However, it’s been cooling based on both the employment situation and JOLTS releases from BLS. 

“After nonfarm payrolls recovered to pre-pandemic levels late in the summer—and as the US Federal Reserve Bank continues increasing interest rates to cool the economy in an effort to manage inflation—employment growth, hires, and job openings are all now below their 2022 peaks and trending down, BLS data show,” stated an analysis from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth’s Carmen Sanchez Cumming, Kate Bahn, and Kathryn Zickuhr before Friday’s data release.

The Fed has increased interest rates by 0.75 percentage point four straight times as it deals with inflation, but this may not be the case at the next meeting. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said during a Brookings Institution event this week that “the time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting.”

Powell also talked about the labor market situation during the event.

“In the labor market, demand for workers far exceeds the supply of available workers, and nominal wages have been growing at a pace well above what would be consistent with 2 percent inflation over time,” Powell said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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