Employers added jobs in November, but only in certain sectors, according to Tuesday’s jobs report. The report also indicated unemployment rose to 4.6% in November, and average hourly earnings for workers increased by 3.5% year over year.
Healthcare and construction, for example, added 46,000 jobs and 28,000 jobs, respectively. Transportation and warehousing shed nearly 18,000 roles.
The most recent data release included payroll numbers from both October and November and largely reflects year-to-date trends, according to Laura Ullrich, director of economic research for the Indeed Hiring Lab. While employers have added nearly 500,000 total jobs to the market in 2025, private education and healthcare, for example, added about 630,000 — making up ground for other industries that shed jobs, an analysis from Ullrich shows.
Tuesday’s two-month report is unusual and incomplete because of data lost to the government shutdown, Ullrich said, “but it still paints a sobering picture of a job market that may officially be turning frigid after a prolonged cooling period.”
Concentrated growth in healthcare — coupled with contraction in industries like transportation and warehousing, as well as manufacturing — is worrisome, Ullrich said in her analysis. “It is difficult not to attribute at least some of this weakness to tariff policy, and potentially even more to the uncertainty surrounding it,” she said.
The numbers indicate that employers planning for 2026 are doing so cautiously, Ger Doyle, regional president for North America at ManpowerGroup, told HR Dive via email. Businesses are maintaining lean teams and prioritizing roles that deliver immediate impact while delaying discretionary positions, he said.
