MNN - Mother Nature Network

The Department of Labor published the November 2012 employment situation summary and the unemployment rate has dropped, slightly, to 7.7 percent.  This is a bit of a surprise to some; on Monday CNNMoney interviewed several economists and the group collectively felt that this week’s unemployment numbers would be weak because of Superstorm Sandy.  

 

“Economists surveyed by CNNMoney predict the Labor Department report will show the U.S. economy added only 77,000 jobs in November, a steep drop from the 171,000 jobs created a month earlier.  The unemployment rate is expected to tick up to 8%, from 7.9% in October.” Source: CNNMoney.com

 

The rate actually ticked down to 7.7 percent, a .2 percent decrease from the October 2012 figure and the lowest unemployment rate the nation has seen since December 2008.

 

During the month of November, 146,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs were added, including job growth in the following industries:

 

 

The November 2012 employment situation summary also included revisions to previous figures.  The September job growth number was revised down to 132,000 from 148,000 and the October figure dropped to 138,000 new jobs from 171,000 jobs.  Despite these downward revisions, the stock market is expected to respond favorably to today’s report.