•Press Release
December 7, 2007 (Jobs Byte)
Jobs Byte by Dean Baker
For Immediate Release: December 7, 2007
Contact: Alan Barber, (202) 293-5380 x115
The establishment survey showed the economy adding just 94,000 jobs in November, somewhat less than had been expected. This number is made somewhat worse by the fact that job growth was revised down by 49,000 for the prior two months. Job growth has averaged 100,000 a month since July, with private sector growth averaging just 66,000.
Construction and manufacturing continue to be drags on total employment, losing 24,000 and 11,000 jobs, respectively. The job loss in construction is concentrated in the residential sector, but employment in non-residential building has been edging downward since March, suggesting that the boom in this sector may be coming to an end. The reported job loss in the residential sector is growing, but employment is still down less than 4 percent from peak levels, a clear understatement of the impact of the housing slump. Manufacturing employment is down by 183,000 from its year ago level, a fall of 1.3 percent. The sectors that have been hit hardest by this job loss have been textile mills (10.8%), apparel (8.9%), and autos (5.9%).
The financial services sector lost 20,000 jobs in November, reflecting the slowdown in housing. The credit intermediation sector has now lost 58,200 jobs since July, 2.0 percent of total employment.
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