WASHINGTON – Non-farm payroll employment rose 120,000 in November while the unemployment rate fell to 8.6%, much lower than the rate's 9.0% to 9.2% range from April through October, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The November non-farm payroll employment gain was close to the 117,000 estimated by economists polled by Thomson Reuters, but the 8.6% unemployment rate was much lower than the 9.0% rate they projected.
The 120,000 non-farm payroll employment gain for November followed a revised 100,000 increase for October. The 8.6% unemployment rate was a 0.4-percentage point drop from the previous month's rate.
Total private payrolls were up 140,000 while government payrolls were down 20,000 in November.
Manufacturing employers added 2,000 jobs, after gaining a revised 6,000 jobs in October.
Average hourly earnings rose 0.1% in November, after a unrevised gain of 0.2% the previous month.
The workweek for all private workers fell to 33.6 hours from an unrevised 33.7 hours in October.
