Jobless Rate Falls In November

The U.S. economy added a net of 120,000 non-farm jobs last month, bringing the nation’s unemployment rate down to 8.6 percent, the lowest it has been in two and a half years.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 140,000 jobs were added in the private sector, while 20,000 government jobs were eliminated. The country’s broader U-6 unemployment rate — which includes under-employed workers as well as “discouraged” workers who have given up looking for work — fell from 16.5 percent to 16.2 percent.

Some analysts credited the nearly half a point drop in the official rate to a shrinking labor force.

This take courtesy of Moody’s Analytics:

“The November labor market report was a mixed bag. Payrolls pushed higher by 120,000, slightly less than we expected, and October’s numbers were revised somewhat higher to 100,000. September data, however, relieved a substantial upward revision to 210,000 (up 52,000 from the previous estimates). Although the unemployment rate finally dropped below 9%, to 8.6%, and household employment made good gains in line with those of October, the drop in unemployment was largely due to a sharp contraction in the labor force, not a good sign.”

The new report also noted that average wages are struggling to keep up with the rate of inflation.

The latest figures sparked the usual round of partian name-calling.

“Any job creation is welcome news, but the jobless rate in this country is still unacceptable,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). “Today marks the 34th consecutive month of unemployment above eight percent. As you may remember, the Obama administration promised unemployment would stay below eight percent if its ‘stimulus’ was enacted. That promise has gone unfulfilled.”

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the report contained “positive signs for our recovery.”

But, he added, “as long as Republicans continue to avoid passing a real jobs plan we will be unable to achieve the kind of significant job creation we need.”

This story was updated at 10:19 a.m.