Employment News: How the November Jobs Report Crushed Expectations

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The Labor Department released the Employment Situation for November 2014 today; the U.S. economy added 321,000 jobs last month, far exceeding expectations. The employment news of this week was overwhelmingly positive: consensus estimates from Bloomberg called for nonfarm payrolls to increase by 230,000 from October, so the 321,000 figure was an upside surprise of nearly 40% and exceeded the high end of economists’ consensus range by 46,000.

jobs report unemploymentThe data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, was in stark contrast to October’s jobs report, when the economy tacked on 214,000 jobs, missing consensus estimates by 16,000.

The employment news of this week saw November mark the 10th straight month of job growth in excess of 200,000 — a streak unmatched since the go-go economy of the 1990s. The 321,000-job increase was the most in a month in the U.S. since January of 2012.

The unemployment rate held steady at 5.8%, but is down 1.2 percentage points from a year ago.

One Year, 1.7 Million Jobs

In the last 12 months, the number of unemployed Americans has gone down by 1.7 million, showing a clear and widespread recovery in the labor markets, which had been slow to keep up with the growth seen in the stock market in the wake of the 2008-09 financial crisis.

The BLS report highlights the areas fueling job growth in November:

  • Professional and business services: +86,000 jobs. 12-month average: +57,000 jobs.
  • Retail trade: +50,000 jobs. 12-month average: +22,000 jobs.
  • Healthcare: +29,000 jobs. 12-month average: +21,750 jobs.
  • Manufacturing: +28,000 jobs. 12-month average: +14,250 jobs.

The financial industry also added 20,000 jobs in November, and transportation, food services, and construction rounded out the areas of job gains, with additions ranging from 17,000 to 27,000 per category.

Last month’s jobs report not only missed on raw employment growth, but also average hourly earnings, which ticked up just 0.1%. This week’s employment news was better on that front as well, showing a 0.4% boost in average hourly earnings.

The Wall Street Journal reports that after the November jobs report, 2014 is on track to be the biggest year of job creation since 1999. Consider the fact that crude oil prices are also below $70 a barrel and consumers are paying just $2.71 per gallon of gas across the U.S., and this holiday season is primed to be one of the best in years for retailers and consumer spending.

As of this writing, John Divine did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. You can follow him on Twitter at @divinebizkid.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2014/12/employment-news-november-jobs-report-crushed-expectations-december-5-2014/.

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