November Jobs Report: Retail Loses, Warehousing and Transportation Gain

U.S. retailers shed 35,000 jobs in November while employers in the warehousing and transportation sector added 145,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) latest jobs report, released Dec. 4.

The U.S. economy as a whole added 245,000 jobs for November, below many analysts' expectations. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast the addition of 438,000 new jobs for the month.

Retail's job cuts heading into a markedly different holiday season reflected less seasonal hiring across several retail segments, the BLS noted. General merchandise stores gave up the most jobs (21,000), and health and personal care stores shed 8,000 jobs. Overall, the retail industry is down 550,000 jobs from February.

Restaurants and bars and other foodservice establishments gave up 17,000 jobs in November, while other employers in the leisure and hospitality sector (those in arts/entertainment/recreation) added 43,000 jobs. Leisure and hospitality employment overall is down 3.4 million jobs from February.

By contrast, couriers and messengers added 82,000 jobs in November, and warehouses/storage facilities added 37,000 jobs. Further job gains in trucking helped boost the transportation and warehousing sector's "notable" performance for the month, according to the BLS. Since February, couriers and messengers have added 182,000 jobs; employment at warehouses has increased by 97,000.

The unemployment rate ticked down to 6.7% in November, 8 percentage points lower than its April high but 3.2 percentage points higher than in February, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.