Payrolls Grow; Jobless Rate Holds Steady

The U.S. job market rebounded from its hurricane-induced torpor in November, adding 215,000 jobs, the most new jobs in a month since July, the Labor Department reported today. Unemployment remained steady at 5 percent as expected.

The November pickup in employment came after two sluggish months of hiring due largely to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the devastating back-to-back storms that slammed the U.S. Gulf Coast in late summer and fall.

Conversely, some of the job gains in November, particularly those in the construction industry, were then the result of rebuilding and clean-up efforts following the hurricanes, a statement by the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. The new jobs data suggested that employers had started hiring again now that energy prices have dipped and the energy supply and transportation disruptions that came with the storms have eased.

The job gains largely met economist and Federal Reserve expectations. Wall Street had expected the payroll to expand by 210,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate to hold steady.

"The unemployment report, for once, was essentially as expected in November," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital. "The employment situation seems to have pretty much worked through the job losses associated with the hurricanes. Now, we wait for those jobs to be recovered over the next 3 to 6 months."

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan predicted at the Fed's Nov. 1 meeting that the hurricanes would only have a temporary effect on employment and production.

Employment gains were spread over the economy in November. Construction, retail, leisure and hospitality, education and health services, financial activities and manufacturing posted gains.

The Labor Department also revised jobs figures for September and October, giving an overall weaker jobs picture. It said employers added 17,000 workers in September, as opposed to trimming workers by 8,000. But in October, employers only added 44,000 new workers, rather than the previously reported 56,000.

Employees' average hourly earnings increased to $16.32 in November, up a minor 0.2 percent from October. Over the year, though, hourly earnings rose by 3.2 percent, the biggest annual rise since March 2003.