Unemployment Rose to 4 Year High in November, but Job Gains Better than Expected

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The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November, its highest in more than four years, fueling questions about the American economy’s underlying strength.

A long-delayed government report on Tuesday showed that 64,000 jobs were gained in November, while 105,000 jobs were lost in October.

The unemployment rate in November rose to 4.6%, from 4.4% in September, the last month the Labor Department reported for the unemployment rate.

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Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected a gain of 45,000 jobs in November, and a 4.5% unemployment rate.

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Federal-government employment shrank by 6,000 jobs in November, adding to a massive loss of 162,000 federal jobs in October. Federal-government employment is down by 271,000 since January, the Labor Department said.

Tuesday’s report offers new clues about a job market that has cooled significantly in recent months. Rising inflation and tariff uncertainty have prevented companies from expanding their workforces. But the Trump administration’s policies targeting immigrants have also curbed the number of job seekers. That has meant that labor demand hasn’t had to grow as quickly to prevent rising unemployment.

Job numbers for September and August were worse than previously reported. Some 108,000 jobs were added in September, lower than the 119,000 gain previously reported; 26,000 jobs were lost in August, instead of the previously estimated 4,000 decline.

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Overall, economists describe the current labor market as a low-fire, low-hire environment. Most companies aren’t laying off workers en masse. But they also aren’t willing to hire too many new workers—in part because they believe that a lot of those tasks can be filled by artificial intelligence. Many companies that typically rush to hire temp workers at this time of year are sitting tight.

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