In November 2023, the US economy saw an increase of 199,000 jobs, which was a significant improvement from the 150,000 jobs added in October and surpassed the anticipated market forecast of 180,000. However, this was the second month in a row where the number of jobs added fell short of the yearly average monthly increase of 240,000, indicating a potential deceleration in the job market. Both October and November data have been a significant decrease from September’s revised figure of 297K (as said, possible gradual slowdown in the labor market). As for October numbers, contributing factors to this slowdown included several strikes, notably those involving the United Auto Workers, which had a substantial impact on manufacturing employment.
The health care sector contributed significantly to this growth with an addition of 77,000 jobs (58k in October). This increase was primarily due to the expansion in ambulatory health care services (+36,000, 32k in October), hospitals (+24,000, 18k in October), and nursing and residential care facilities (+17,000).
Moreover, there was a surge in government employment by 49,000 (51k in the previous month, returning to pre-pandemic levels last seen in February 2020), largely attributed to the growth in local government (+32,000) and state government (+17,000) sectors.
The manufacturing sector also saw a rise in employment by 28,000 (in October the decline had been of 35k jobs, way more than expected), albeit slightly lower than anticipated, mainly due to the return of automobile workers post the resolution of the UAW strike. On the other hand, the retail trade sector experienced a decline in employment by 38,000.
