The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported out long-delayed national employment figures on Dec. 16 — seen as a key element for influencing the Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate policy.

The figures showed that the country’s overall unemployment rate rose to its highest level in more than four years in November, up to 4.6%, in a continuation of a steady climb that began in July.

Premium — MDM Forecast: December 2025 Update

The Bureau shared two months’ worth of statistics since the data was delayed by the 43-day government shutdown that spanned Oct. 1-Nov. 13. An unemployment rate for October wasn’t available since officials were unable to conduct a survey for it.

Exceeding market expectations of 4.4% to 4.5%, the unemployment rate was the nation’s highest since September 2021. The latest report showed that the U.S. gained 64,000 jobs in November, while 105,000 were lost in October. Overall, November was the third month in the past six that had job losses.

U.S. Unemployment rate – Last 12 Months

Wholesale Trade Employment

The Bureau’s report showed that seasonally adjusted wholesale trade employment held essentially steady across October and November, ending the latter at 6.17 million jobs — down less than 0.4%, or 2,200, from October. Year-over-year, November’s figure was essentially flat. Jobs in wholesale durable, nondurable goods and trade agents/brokers were each down by less than 1,000 month-to-month in November.

Below, see the full wholesale trade jobs figures for October and November 2025, along with a trend line chart for overall industry employment since November 2023:

For other Industries in November:

• Manufacturing shed 5,000 jobs — with 4,000 of them in durable goods
• Mining & Logging lost 4,000 jobs, with Mining Support Activities losing 5,900 while logging was essentially unchanged
• Construction added 28,000 jobs
• Transportation and Warehousing shed nearly 18,000 jobs — though Warehousing & Storage added nearly 2,000
• Retail Trade added 6,200 jobs
• Utilities added 1,000 jobs