New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the job market continues to show signs of cooling as the U.S. labor market shows a net loss of 41,000 jobs over October and November.
The unemployment rate rose to 4.6% from 4.4% in September. That’s the highest unemployment rate in more than four years.
The jobs report’s release had been delayed by the six-week federal shutdown.
While U.S. employers added just 64,000 jobs in November, 105,000 jobs were lost in October.
That’s the 3rd month this year the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported job losses, the other two months being June and August.
Prior to 2025, the U.S. economy hadn’t shown a month of job losses since the beginning of the pandemic.
October’s numbers were, in large part, due to a drop in the federal workforce, as 162,000 government workers who’d taken buyouts earlier in the year were officially dropped from the payrolls.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told reporters these numbers are expected to be revised lower early next year when the Labor Department incorporates more complete information.
The 4.6% unemployment rate and the number of unemployed people (7.8 million) are higher than last November, when the jobless rate was 4.2%, and the number of unemployed was 7.1 million.
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