Daily News

View All News

U.S. adds 52,400 temp jobs in November

December 04, 2009
Staffing Industry Analysts North American Daily News

U.S. temporary help payrolls rose by 52,400 jobs in November from October, continuing an upward trend that began in August, according to seasonally adjusted preliminary numbers released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Also, the bureau revised up the number of temporary jobs gained in October to 44,100 from an earlier estimate of 33,700. Overall, the U.S. added 116,900 temporary jobs starting in August.

In comparison, the U.S. lost an average of 44,000 temp jobs per month between January 2008 and July 2009.

The temporary help penetration rate rose to 1.42% in November from 1.38% in October.

The employment services industry as a whole added 61,100 jobs in November after adding 42,700 jobs in October and 30,300 jobs in September.

Total U.S. nonfarm payrolls were nearly flat, falling by only 11,000 jobs to approximately 131.0 million. The Associated Press reported economists were forecasting a loss of 130,000 jobs; and Wanted Technologies had forecast a decline of 155,000 jobs.

U.S. payrolls had fallen by an average of 135,000 jobs a month for the past three months.

The U.S. unemployment rate for November fell to 10.0% from 10.2% in October.

Manufacturing employment fell by 41,000 jobs in November; the average decline for the past five months was 46,000.

Healthcare added 21,000 jobs in November. This category has added 613,000 jobs since the recession began in December 2007.

Construction employment fell by 27,000 jobs in November. However, it had averaged a loss of 63,000 jobs per month from May through October.