Wage Growth Stagnated Even As November’s Job Growth Was Strong

Bryce Covert Economic Policy Editor, Think Progress

Wage Growth Stagnated Even As November’s Job Growth Was Strong

The economy added 211,000 jobs in November while the unemployment rate stayed the same at 5 percent, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Analysts had expected 200,000 jobs to be added.

November’s gains came in construction (46,000), professional and technical services (28,000), health care (24,000), food and drink places (32,000), and retail (31,000).

Revisions added more jobs than previously reported to past months: September was revised up from 137,000 to 145,000, while October went up from 271,000 to 298,000, for a net 35,000 extra jobs.

After wages rose 9 cents in October, they only increased 0.2 percent in November, or a 4-cent increase, and they’ve risen at just a 2.3 percent rate over the last year on average.

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This has been reposted from Think Progress.

Bryce Covert is the Economic Policy Editor for ThinkProgress. She was previously editor of the Roosevelt Institute’s Next New Deal blog and a senior communications officer. She is also a contributor for The Nation and was previously a contributor for ForbesWoman. Her writing has appeared on The New York Times, The New York Daily News, The Nation, The Atlantic, The American Prospect, and others. She is also a board member of WAM!NYC, the New York Chapter of Women, Action & the Media. Follow her on Twitter @brycecovert

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