November Payrolls Rise by 112,000; Unemployment Rate Falls to 5.4%

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.

ayrolls grew by 112,000 workers in November and the jobless rate dropped to 5.4% from 5.5%, the Labor Department reported Friday.

Labor also revised down job growth in the prior two months by a total of 54,000. Analysts said the report was evidence that increased costs for oil and raw materials have made companies reluctant to hire, Bloomberg reported.

Economists predicted that 200,000 new jobs would be created last month, the Associated Press said.

Manufacturers lost 5,000 jobs after a decline of 2,000 in October. It was the third straight month the sector lost jobs. The manufacturing workweek fell by six minutes to 40.5 hours and overtime held at 4.5 hours.

Retail employment decreased 16,200 in November, the second decline in three months, Labor said.

However, construction jobs rose by 11,000 last month after rising by 65,000 in October, and employment in service-producing industries, which include retailers, rose 104,000 last month.

The employment data for November was the last before Federal Reserve policy makers meet Dec. 14 to consider raising interest rates. The Fed was forecast to boost the benchmark overnight bank lending rate a quarter percentage point to 2.25%, Bloomberg said.