No Job for You.

This morning, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that "nonfarm" payroll employment shed approximately 533,000 jobs in November, as the unemployment rate rose from 6.5% to 6.7%. November's job losses followed losses of 403,000 jobs in September and 320,000 jobs in October, according to revised estimates. Here are the most distressing indicators for a sharply deepening economic recession in the U.S. labor market:

U.S. Labor Market Trends

• Since the start of the recession in December 2007, as recently declared by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), there have been approximately 1.9 million total job losses. Two-thirds of these losses occurred in the last 3 months.

• Both the number of unemployed persons (10.3 million) and the unemployment rate (6.7%) continued to increase in November. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons increased by 2.7 million, and the unemployment rate rose by 1.7 percentage points.

• Among the unemployed, the number of persons who lost their job and did not expect to be recalled to work increased by 298,000 to 4.7 million in November. Over the past 12 months, the size of this group has increased by 2.0 million.

• The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 2.2 million in November, but was up by 822,000 over the past 12 months.

• Over the month, the number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) continued to increase, reaching 7.3 million. The number of such workers rose by 2.8 million over the past 12 months.
  

Market Winners

• Healthcare: Healthcare employment grew by 34,000 in November. Over the past 12 months, healthcare has added 369,000 jobs.
  

Market Losers: Everybody Else

• Manufacturing: In November, employment continued to decline in manufacturing (-85,000), with widespread job losses occurring among the component industries. Manufacturing employment has declined by 604,000 since December. Within durable goods manufacturing, job losses occurred in November in fabricated metal products (-15,000), machinery (-11,000), wood products (-9,000), furniture and related products (-7,000), primary metals (-7,000), and computer and electronic products (-7,000). Employment in transportation equipment edged up, as a return of 27,000 aerospace workers from strike more than offset a job loss in motor vehicle and parts (-13,000). In the nondurable goods component, job losses occurred in plastics and rubber products (-12,000), printing and related support activities (-5,000), and textile mills (-5,000).
  

• Construction: Employment in construction fell by 82,000 in November, with losses occurring throughout the industry. Since peaking in September 2006, construction employment has decreased by 780,000. Specialty trade contractors lost 50,000 jobs in November, with both residential and nonresidential components contributing to the decline.

• Professional Services: Within professional and business services, the employment services industry lost 101,000 jobs over the month, bringing total job losses since December to 495,000. In November, employment fell by 10,000 in architectural and engineering services.

• Retail: Employment in retail trade fell by 91,000 in November. Job losses continued in automobile dealer-ships (-24,000). Employment in the industry has fallen by 115,000 since December, with much of the decrease occurring over the last 2 months. In several other retail industries, seasonal hiring for the holidays fell short of normal in November. After seasonal adjustment, employment declined in clothing and accessories stores (-18,000); sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores (-11,000); and furniture and home furnishing stores (-10,000). Wholesale trade employment was down by 25,000 over the month, with most of the decrease among durable goods wholesalers.

• Leisure & Hospitality: Employment in leisure and hospitality declined by 76,000 in November, with most of the decline occurring in accommodation and food services (-54,000). Since peaking in April 2008, accommodation and food services has lost 150,000 jobs.

• Financial Services: In November, employment in financial activities continued to decline (-32,000). Within the industry, job losses occurred in credit intermediation and related activities (-16,000) and in rental and leasing services (-9,000). Job losses in financial activities have accelerated over the last 3 months, bringing the total decline since December to 142,000.

• Other Service Industries: Elsewhere in the service-providing sector, employment in transportation and warehousing declined by 32,000 in November, with most of the losses in truck transportation (-12,000) and couriers and messengers (-8,000). The information industry lost 19,000 jobs over the month.
  

Let's hope for better news next time. The Employment Situation for December 2008 is scheduled to be released on Friday, January 9, 2009, at 8:30 A.M. (EST).