The U.S. labor market showed only modest movement in the U.S. Bureau of Labor’s Report, with the unemployment rate holding at 4.6 percent and total nonfarm payroll employment rising by 64,000 jobs, according to the latest Employment Situation report released Tuesday.

Payrolls have shown little net change since April.

In November, 7.8 million people were unemployed, little changed from September but higher than a year earlier, when the jobless rate stood at 4.2 percent and 7.1 million people were unemployed. Because the federal government shutdown prevented the collection of October household survey data, BLS compared November figures primarily with September rather than the prior month.​

Unemployment trends varied across major demographic groups. The jobless rate for teenagers climbed to 16.3 percent in November, up from September, while unemployment for adult men and adult women registered 4.1 percent each, showing little change. The unemployment rate was 3.9 percent for Whites, 8.3 percent for Blacks, 3.6 percent for Asians, and 5.0 percent for Hispanics, all largely unchanged from September.

The number of people jobless less than five weeks rose to 2.5 million in November, an increase of 316,000 since September. Long-term unemployment—those out of work for 27 weeks or more—held at 1.9 million and accounted for 24.3 percent of all unemployed persons.

The labor force participation rate was 62.5 percent in November, and the employment-population ratio stood at 59.6 percent, both little changed from September and showing little movement over the year.​

Signs of underemployment edged higher. The number of people employed part time for economic reasons—workers who would have preferred full-time positions but could only find part-time work or had their hours cut—rose to 5.5 million, an increase of 909,000 since September.​

Among those not in the labor force, 6.1 million people said they currently want a job, little changed from September. Within this group, 1.8 million were marginally attached to the labor force, meaning they wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job within the past 12 months but not in the four weeks before the survey. Discouraged workers, a subset who believe no jobs are available for them, numbered 651,000 in November, also little changed.

On the employer side, health care and construction added jobs, while the federal government continued to shed workers.

Health care employment rose by 46,000, roughly in line with its average monthly gain of 39,000 over the prior 12 months. Job gains were spread across ambulatory health care services (+24,000), hospitals (+11,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+11,000).​

Construction added 28,000 jobs in November, driven largely by nonresidential specialty trade contractors, which accounted for 19,000 of the gain. Construction employment had been mostly flat over the previous year, making November’s advance a notable uptick.​

Social assistance continued its gradual expansion, with employment trending up by 18,000, including a 13,000-job increase in individual and family services.​

By contrast, transportation and warehousing employment edged down by 18,000, entirely due to losses in couriers and messengers, which shed 18,000 jobs in November. Employment in that sector has now declined by 78,000 since peaking in February.​

Federal government employment fell by 6,000 in November, following a steep decline of 162,000 in October linked to deferred resignation offers that moved some workers off federal payrolls. Federal government employment has dropped by 271,000 since its most recent peak in January. Federal employees on furlough during the shutdown were still counted as employed in the establishment survey because they ultimately received pay for the relevant pay period.​

Employment in mining, manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade, information, financial activities, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and other services showed little change over the month.

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 5 cents in November, or 0.1 percent, to 36.86 dollars. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.5 percent, indicating continued but moderating wage growth. For private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees, average hourly earnings rose by 11 cents, or 0.3 percent, to 31.76 dollars in November.​

The average workweek for all private nonfarm employees ticked up by 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours. In manufacturing, the workweek held at 40.0 hours, and overtime remained at 2.9 hours. The workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees was unchanged at 33.7 hours.

BLS revised earlier payroll estimates, lowering previously reported job gains. The change in total nonfarm employment for August was revised down from a loss of 4,000 jobs to a loss of 26,000, while September’s gain was revised down from 119,000 to 108,000. Taken together, employment in August and September is now estimated to be 33,000 lower than earlier reports indicated.

The next Employment Situation report, covering December 2025, is scheduled for release on January 9, 2026. That release will also incorporate the annual revisions to seasonally adjusted household survey data, which typically affect the most recent five years of estimates.