The unemployment rate rose in November, a warning sign for the health of a labor market that has been strained by federal layoffs and rising costs.
The jobless rate last month rose to 4.6 percent up from 4.4 percent in September, the last month for which officials had a full picture of the labor force before the weekslong government shutdown. It is the highest unemployment rate since September 2021, when the economy was emerging from the pandemic, and an increase from 4.0 percent in January.
The White House on Tuesday sought to recast the dour jobs report as a sign of progress, even though the data showed a rising unemployment rate and other potential signs of weakness looming over the economy.
“THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” the White House posted on social media.
The administration mounted much of its rebuttal in a series of unsigned social media posts from the Council of Economic Advisers. Officials heralded that the jobs report showed a sharp decrease in the number of federal workers, a gain in private-sector employment and an uptick in younger Americans restarting their search for work, among other positives.
But the figures cited by the White House omitted key details about the real strains facing millions of workers, captured in the data released for October and November.
Even as it cited robust private-sector job growth, the White House neglected to mention that the report showed that the unemployment rate actually ticked up in November, reaching its highest level since September 2021. The number of Americans out of work for more than six months also rose, though the White House maintained on social media that more Americans “continue to come off the sidelines and re-enter the labor force.”
Wages growth also slowed to 3.5 percent, the slowest pace since before the pandemic, the report showed. And, for many Americans, the gains in wages may not have offset the impact of rising prices. Still, the White House on Tuesday sought to spin that data as a positive, arguing that “average private sector weekly earnings are on track to rise to 4.2% during President Trumps’ first full year in office.”
The puzzling thing about this labor market continues to be the low level of layoffs. Initial claims for unemployment insurance have not escalated notably, and the layoff rate as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is still around where it was during the very strong prepandemic labor market. This increase in unemployment is largely coming from more people looking for jobs, and not finding them.
Today’s data may help explain why majorities of voters in recent polls have given President Trump poor marks on the economy. Unemployment is rising and wage growth is slowing, the data show, adding to the financial pressures on American families when prices are elevated.
Time and again, Trump has blamed these poor economic indicators and other negative developments on his predecessor, President Joseph R. Biden Jr., claiming they are after-effects of his leadership. But, nearly one year into Trump’s second term, voters seem to be telling pollsters that they believe that he may shoulder at least some of the blame, as his approval on economic issues continues to dip.
