Dec. 8 (UPI) — The U.S. economy added nearly 230,000 jobs during the month of November, the Labor Department said Friday.
The department’s monthly report showed national unemployment rate held steady at 4.1 percent, and the number of unemployed was essentially unchanged at 6.6 million.
The total number of jobs added for the month was about 228,000.
The report said long-term unemployed, those without work for 27 weeks or more, was unchanged at 1.6 million.
Labor force participation and the number of those employed part-time, a group sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers, was also unchanged.
The November gains were mostly seen in the professional, manufacturing and healthcare sectors of the economy, the report said.
Since January, the U.S. unemployment rate has fallen 0.5 percent — and the number of long-term unemployed declined by 275,000. Those in the involuntary part-time category fell by 858,000.
In the past 12 months, 548,000 jobs were added in the category of professional and business services, and nearly 190,000 in manufacturing. The health care segment has added an average of 24,000 jobs per month.
