Employment fell by a mere 11,000 jobs in November, according to today's preliminary report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a much smaller loss than consensus estimates. The largest job losses were in construction, manufacturing, and information, while temporary help and health care added jobs. The economy has shed 7.3 million jobs since the start of the recession in December 2007.
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Along with the preliminary report for November, the BLS issued its Final Estimate of job losses for September at a loss of 139,000 jobs, up 80,000 from its revised estimate of -219,000. It raised its October preliminary estimate up 79,000 jobs for a revised loss of 111,000 jobs. One more revision for October may still occur.
The unemployment rate fell from 10.2 to 10.0 percent; consensus estimates had expected it to remain unchanged.
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