Washington, D.C., Dec. 6, 2002--The nation's unemployment rate unexpectedly shot up to 6% in November, the highest level since a peak almost nine years ago when the country was struggling to emerge from the last recession.
The report, released today by the Labor Department, portrayed a bleak snapshot of the U.S. economy at a time when many analysts had thought that rock bottom days for job seekers were behind them. Analysts were expecting a slight increase from the 5.7 percent posted in October.
U.S. companies also slashed 40,000 jobs in November, the most since nine months ago, when 165,000 jobs were cut. Economists had forecast modest job growth for last month.
November's jobless rate was matched back in April, and it was the highest since July 1994, when the rate topped 6.1 percent.
Friday's report surprised analysts, who thought the unemployment rate might tick up to 5.8 percent for November with stabilizing layoffs and fewer workers seeking unemployment benefits in recent weeks.
The report showed that employment in the nation's factories continued to decline, with a loss of 45,000 jobs last month. Hiring also was down in retail, mostly because of weak hiring during a time that stores typically build up work forces for the holiday shopping rush.
Countering those job losses was an overall hiring increase in services. Health related companies made up more than half of the November increase, with notable gains in hospitals and nursing facilities. But employment in temporary employment firms--an industry where hiring had been on the upswing for much of the year--fell for the second month in a row. Such employment is closely watched by economists because companies often seek temporary help as their businesses start growing again instead of taking on full-time workers.
