Nonfarm payroll employment in November increased by 178,000, seasonally adjusted, from October and by 2,343,000 (1.6%) year-over-year (y/y), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on December 2. The unemployment rate (4.6%) decreased from 4.9% in October. Construction employment (6,704,000) increased by 19,000 from October and by 155,000 (2.4%) over 12 months to the highest level since November 2008. Residential construction employment (residential building and specialty trade contractors) rose by 19,600 for the month and 120,400 (4.8%) y/y. Nonresidential building employment rose by 300 employees in November and 6,600 (0.9%) over the year. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors added 800 workers during the month and 32,400 (1.4%) over 12 months. But heavy and civil engineering construction firms shed 2,100 jobs for the month and 4,400 (-0.5%) since November 2015. The number of unemployed jobseekers who last worked in construction edged down from 536,000 in November 2015 to 517,000, and the unemployment rate for such workers dropped from 6.2% to 5.7%, the lowest November figures for these series since 2006.
