The November 2024 Jobs Report & October 2024 JOLTS: The Current U.S. Employment Situation

After October’s storms and strikes, the U.S. job market has rebounded: The November 2024 BLS Employment Situation Summary showed total nonfarm payroll employment increasing by 227,000, exceeding expectations of 214,000. The unemployment rate and number of unemployed persons ticked up slightly to 4.2% and 7.1 million, respectively.

The latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), released on Dec. 3, reported 7.7 million job openings on the last business day of October – an increase compared to 7.4 million on the last business day of September. Hires decreased to 5.3 million and total separations increased to 5.3 million.

Here are more takeaways from the latest U.S. jobs data:

• The quits rate ticked back up to 2.1% in October; industries with the highest increases in quits levels were leisure and hospitality (+92,000) and private education and health services (+47,000).
• Average hourly earnings increased by $0.13 – or 0.4% – to $35.61.
• October 2024’s total nonfarm payroll employment increase was revised up significantly from 12,000 to 36,000.

What industries are hiring now? Per the November 2024 jobs report, health care added 54,000 jobs and leisure and hospitality employment grew by 53,000. Transportation equipment manufacturing rebounded by 32,000 jobs with the end of the worker strikes.

Retail jobs decreased by 28,000, with most of those jobs within general merchandise retailers and department stores.

Looking toward 2025 and the new incoming administration, it could be a while before we see the impact. As Lydia DePillis of the NY Times stated, “Although uncertainty about who would be running the government next year was resolved, and Wall Street has expressed optimism about President-elect Donald J. Trump’s agenda, any labor market impact is probably months away.”

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