Jobless Rate Falls Despite Layoff Plans; Wave of Hiring Reflects Strength in Economy
The nation's unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent last month, as stronger-than-expected hiring by builders, retailers, restaurants and other service providers more than offset layoffs by manufacturers, the government reported yesterday.</br></br>The gain of 267,000 payroll jobs in November, which was much greater than many analysts had anticipated, showed that the nation's labor markets remained strong despite the recent flurry of corporate layoff announcements.</br></br>Boeing Co., Johnson & Johnson, Merrill Lynch & Co. and merging oil companies Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. are among the corporate giants that have recently announced plans to slash tens of thousands of jobs. But many of those cuts won't occur for months or years. Meanwhile, other payrolls are booming.</br></br>"The U.S. growth story remains a tale of two economies, with the manufacturing sector shedding 47,000 jobs in November, purchasing agents reporting the weakest factory conditions since February 1996 and {new factory} orders dropping in October," said Bill Dudley, chief economist at Goldman Sachs & Co. in New York.</br></br>More than compensating for those job losses were a jump of 55,000 jobs at firms providing business services, including temporary help, and of 47,000 in construction. Unusually strong holiday hiring boosted retail trade employment by 65,000 jobs, the Labor Department said.