Financial News: U.S. Employment Surges By 227,000 Jobs In November,

U.S. Employment Surges By 227,000 Jobs In November, More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - Employment in the U.S. surged by more than expected in the month of November, according to a closely watched report released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 227,000 jobs in November after rising by an upwardly revised 36,000 jobs in October.

Economists had expected employment to jump by 200,000 jobs compared to the uptick of 12,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The report showed notable increases by healthcare and social assistance, leisure and hospitality and government jobs, while the retail sector lost jobs.

Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.2 percent in November from 4.1 percent in October. The modest increase matched economist estimates.

The uptick by the unemployment rate came as the household survey measure of employment tumbled by 355,000, outpacing a 193,000 person decrease in the size of the labor force.

"Job growth rebounded about as expected in November," said FHN Financial chief economist Chris Low. "That said, the 2-month average rate of job growth at 136.5k is tepid, underscored by a 2-month increase in aggregate hours worked of just 0.1%."

"Surveys suggest companies are putting investment and hiring plans on hold until they have more certainty about the president elect's economic plans," he added. "Today's employment report bears that out."

The Labor Department also said average hourly employee earnings climbed by $0.13 or 0.4 percent to $35.61 in November. The annual rate of wage growth was unchanged at 4.0 percent.

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