The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its delayed employment / unemployment report for November
on December 16^th, 2025.

Employment / Unemployment 

• Seasonally Adjusted U3- 4.6% Up from 4.4% in September
• Unadjusted U3- 4.3% unchanged from September
• Unadjusted U6- 8.4% Up from 7.7% in September
• Labor Force Participation Rate- 62.5% Up from 62.4%
• Employment- 160.411 million in October
• Employment- 160.652 million in November
• Next data release- January 9, 2026
• October Unemployment Data not available due to gov’t shutdown

Summary:

Although unemployment information for October is not available Employmentdata was still collected. Total Employed increased in both October and November. Unadjusted Unemployment was 4.3% in both September and November, but Seasonally adjusted Unemployment increased in November.

According to the Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

“Total nonfarm payroll employment changed little in November (+64,000) and has shown little net change since April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In November, the unemployment rate, at 4.6 percent, was little changed from September. Employment rose in health care and construction in November, while the federal government continued to lose jobs…

Federal government employment continued to decrease in November (-6,000). This follows a sharp decline of 162,000 in October, as some federal employees who accepted a deferred resignation offer came off federal payrolls. Federal government employment is down by 271,000 since reaching a peak in January. (Federal employees on furlough during the government shutdown were counted as employed in the establishment survey because they received pay, even if later than usual, for the pay period that included the 12th of the month. Employees on paid leave or receiving ongoing severance pay are counted as employed in the establishment survey.)”

You can read the full BLS report here.

As usual, they are talking about “Seasonally Adjusted Jobs”.

Looking at the Unadjusted Establishment Survey report, we see…
Originally, the BLS reported employment of 159.732 million for September.
They are currently reporting 160.411 million jobs for October and 160.652 million for November, which is actually an increase of 241,000 jobs from October to November. The LFPR was up from 62.4% in September to 62.5% in November.

Current Unemployment Rate Chart

As we can see, unemployment is above pre-COVID lows of 2019 and the January and April lows of 2023.

Current Employment Rate

Initial job numbers were highly inflated in 2023 and 2024, and later, when they were out of the spotlight, they were adjusted downward, often by more than half a million. In 2025, Trump fired the BLS Commissioner, and since then, the initial numbers have been closer to the adjusted numbers. Adjusted numbers are not yet available for September through November due to the Government shutdown.

See Current Employment  for more information.

BLS: November 2025 Employment by Sector

The BLS employment “bubble chart” based on the Establishment Survey Data gives us a good picture of the Seasonally Adjusted employment numbers.

The Bubble’s Size tells us the total Employment for that industry (i.e., larger bubbles mean more people are employed in that sector).

The bubble’s location on the chart tells us that there has been a change in Employment Levels over the most recent month… A bubble further to the right indicates larger job growth. A bubble’s vertical location on the chart shows the average industry salary.

Remember, these are Seasonally Adjusted Numbers, so they aren’t cumulative!

Looking at the above chart, we can see that five sectors were below zero (i.e., left of the zero line -lost workers). And average weekly wages decreased.

BLS Average Weekly Wages

BLS Employment and Average Weekly Earnings by Industry

November 2025, Seasonally Adjusted Employment

Source: BLS

ADP^® National Employment Report

ADP provides an independent (non-government) estimate of private-sector employment and pay, based on data derived from ADP client payrolls. According to ADP®, In collaboration with Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

Note: The numbers are released a few days before the BLS numbers and are often quite different.

ADP: Private employers shed -32,000 jobs in November

• Job creation has been flat during the second half of 2025, and pay growth has been on a downward trend. November hiring was particularly weak in manufacturing, professional and business services, information, and construction.

Source: ADP®

ADP Private Employment by Establishment Size

ADP Job Gainers / Losers

Unemployment

Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment rose to 4.6% in November.

Less Than Full Employment

This chart compares employment levels with the (inverted) unemployment rate.

Full Employment is when everyone who wants a job has one. It is generally considered to be around 3%. After the unemployment rate almost touched the magic full employment line in April 2023, it began moving away (i.e., higher unemployment).

Note: The Unemployment rate is inverted to track the employment rate. Neither is Seasonally Adjusted. For more information see Employment vs. Unemployment.

Note: Full employment is not considered to be at zero percent because even when employers are having difficulty finding employees, some people are still unemployed due to either:

1. structural unemployment (mismatch between worker skills and job requirements, i.e., not enough training) or
2. frictional unemployment There will always be people who have quit or have lost a seasonal job and are in the process of getting a new job. Or Simply because they quit their job knowing it would be easy to find another (hopefully better) job.

Seasonally Adjusted U1 through U6 Unemployment Rates

Labor Force Participation Rate

The LFPR rose to 62.5% in November. 

Note: A rising LFPR means that a greater portion of the Non-Institutional population is in the Labor Force.

The Labor Force Participation Rate is the percentage of the Non-Institutional Population that makes up the Labor Force.

And the Employment – Population Ratio is the percentage of the Total Population that is Employed.  We created a chart to help explain the difference. The Employment–Population Ratio is the percentage of the largest circle to the smallest circle in this diagram. In contrast, the LFPR is the relationship of the 2nd largest circle to the 3rd largest circle (entire green circle).

Employment-Population Ratio

By Gender

This chart shows the Employment-Population Ratio by Gender. Men make up a much larger portion of the workforce, i.e., 67.3% of men are employed, and only 56.3% of women are employed. But…

As you can see, 20 years ago, back in 2005, over 72% of men were working and 57.4% of women were working. In 2008, the Great Recession caused a massive decline in employment for both men and women. By December of 2009, only 66.4% of men were working and 55.4% of women. Over the next decade and a half, women workers rebounded back to 56.4% but men only rebounded to 67.4%.

Employment-Population Ratio by Race

This chart shows the Employment-Population Ratio by Race. As we can see, Hispanics and Asians have the highest percentage of their population employed.

Duration of Unemployment

When the 27-week line begins moving upward, it signals a problem in the economy, and over the last few months, it has been gradually climbing, but it fell slightly in November. The BLS Commissioner said, “The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) changed little at 1.9 million in November and accounted for 24.3 percent of all unemployed people.” But looking at the chart we can see a sharp decline from 25.7% in August.

Unemployment by Education

Note that simply getting a High School education reduces your chances of unemployment from 6.8% to 4.4%. Getting some College or an Associates degree reduces your chances further to 3.5%, and a 4-year degree or higher reduces it to 2.9%.

Read more on UnemploymentData.com.