Jobs report November 2025:

Nonfarm payrolls rose slightly more than expected in November, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures released Tuesday that were delayed by the government shutdown.

Monthly job growth totaled 64,000, above Dow Jones’ forecast of 45,000.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, higher than expected.

In addition to the November report, the BLS released an abbreviated October count showing payrolls falling by 105,000. Although there was no official forecast, Wall Street economists had expected a large decline after a surprise increase of 108,000 in September.

October’s decline was driven by a sharp decline in public employment when the deferred redundancies agency came into force earlier this year. Government payrolls were below 162,000 this month and fell by a further 6,000 in November.

However, the decline in October marked the third time in six months that employment reached a net negative level. The BLS report also showed that August’s numbers were revised down by 22,000, with a steeper loss at 26,000, while September’s initial number was down 11,000.

The BLS warned that the household survey used to calculate the unemployment rate would be affected by the effects of the shutdown for several months. Difficulty capturing October figures led to the cancellation of both the jobs report and the closely watched consumer price index.

Despite the challenges, the report painted a familiar picture of the labor market.

The employment picture remains one of low hiring and low layoffs; This is also affected by President Donald Trump’s strict border enforcement, which has deprived the workforce of the usual flow of immigrants.

From a policy perspective, the Federal Reserve has had to walk a difficult line between preventing further weakness in the labor market while guarding against further worsening of stubbornly high inflation.

The central bank cut the interest rate by a quarter point at its last meeting, but signaled that the bar for additional reductions was higher. The Fed has approved three consecutive reductions since September, pushing the benchmark funds rate to its 3.5%-3.75% target range.

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