U.S. Economy Sheds 1.91 Million Jobs In 2008, November Jobless Rate Up 6.7%

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The U.S. economy registered a huge decline in the nonfarm payrolls to 533,000 in November as unemployment rate for the month jumped to 6.7 percent, the government said Thursday.

The Labor Department report released in Washington showed that the economy lost jobs at the fastest pace since December 1974 as the companies in the country continue to struggle with the on-going recession.

November's drop in payroll employment followed declines of 403,000 in September and 320,000 in October, as revised. The economy has lost 1.91 million jobs in the first 11 months of 2008, with more than 1.2 million of the drop in employment was registered in the past three months.

In November, job losses continued in manufacturing, construction, and other services providing industries. Health care and education continued to add jobs, the report said.

The unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage point, which is the highest level since 1993, from 6.5 percent reported in the month of October. Over the last 12 months, the unemployment rate has increased by 1.7 percentage points.

The data showed that the number of unemployed persons increased by 2.7 million from the start of the recession in December 2007, as recently reported by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

In individual sectors, manufacturing employment declined by 85,000 over the month, construction employment dropped by 82,000, retail trade fell by 91,000, financial activities employment declined by 32,000.

Job losses in financial services sector have accelerated over the last three months, bringing the total decline since December last year to 142,000, the report showed.

Health care employment continued to add in November, with an increase of 34,000 jobs; over the past 12 months, the sector has grown by 369,000. The education sector added 18,000 jobs in last month.

In October, average hourly earnings on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 7 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $18.30, seasonally adjusted, with gains of 6 cents in October and 3 cents in September.

Over the last 12 months, average hourly earnings moved up by 3.7 percent and average weekly earnings climbed up by 2.8 percent.

Among the unemployed, the number of persons who lost their job and did not expect to be recalled to work increased by 298,000 to 4.7 million in November. Over the past 12 months, the size of this group has moved up by 2.0 million.

The report noted that the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 2.2 million in November, but was up by 822,000 over the past 12 months.