November 2009 Employment Situation

On December 4, U.S. DOL released the November 2009 Employment Situation report, which was the most hopeful sign yet that the stabilization of financial markets and the recovery in economic growth may be leading to improvements in the Labor market.

As reported, the economy lost 11,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate edged down to 10.0 percent in November. Payroll employment declined 597,000 in November 2008 and 741,000 in January 2009. It is by far the closest we have been to stable employment since the recession began almost two years ago. The unemployment rate, which had risen to 10.2% in October, declined to 10.0% in November.
"I am encouraged by the pattern of moderated job loss; however, I will not be satisfied until there are robust job gains,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, "Over the past 10 months, the Obama Administration has taken bold steps to break the back of this recession. While there has been a lot of rhetoric about the Recovery Act, when you look at today's report and other recent favorable economic trends, it is hard to argue that the Recovery Act is not working. "

Hilda L. Solis also said that "At the Department of Labor, we are working tirelessly to ensure that we fulfill our responsibility to provide workers with the assistance they need today to help them find good jobs. We still have work to do before we can be sure that all Americans have access to good jobs, but I am confident that we will reach that goal."