(Updated, 10:45 a.m.)
WASHINGTON – The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell two-tenths of a point to 10 percent in November as employers cut far fewer jobs than expected, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday.
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The economy shed just 11,000 jobs last month, the fewest since the recession began in December 2007, the government said in its final employment report of the year. By contrast, employers cut an average of 135,000 jobs a month from August through October.
The number of jobs lost was far lower than had been expected. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted the economy lost 125,000 jobs in November and that the jobless rate stayed at 10.2 percent.
“Today’s employment report was the most hopeful sign yet that the stabilization of financial markets and the recovery in economic growth may be leading to improvements in the labor market,” said Christina Romer, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. “It is by far the closest we have been to stable employment since the recession began almost two years ago.”
But, Romer added, “the unemployment rate remains unacceptably high.” She also cautioned that “it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report, positive or negative. But it is clear we are moving in the right direction.”
The Labor Department also revised downward its estimate of the number of jobs lost in October from 190,000 to 111,000.
The so-called underemployment rate – which also includes people working part-time who would prefer full-time work and those who have given up looking for a job – fell to 17.2 percent from 17.5 percent.
The government reported increases in hours worked, wages and staffing at temp agencies in October, all of which signaled that U.S. businesses may begin hiring more employees soon. At least 7.2 million jobs have been lost since the start of the recession, including almost 4.8 million over the past year.
The unemployment rate in Rhode Island fell to 12.9 percent in October, the most recent month for which figures are available, from 13 percent the prior month, according to the Labor Department.
