Nonfarm payrolls rose by 39,000 jobs in November, well below the consensus estimate of economists surveyed, which forecast a 150,000 increase. The unemployment rate rose from 9.6% to 9.8%, compared to expectations of the rate to remain unchanged, as the size of the labor force increased by 103,000 after declining by 254,000 in October. Average hourly earnings were flat month-over-month, versus the Street's forecast of a 0.2% increase, and average weekly hours remained at 34.3, as expected.
The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index rose more than expected in November to 55.0 from 54.3, while the forecast was for a reading of 54.8. A reading of 50 separates expansion from contraction. The report is generally considered a measure of economic strength in the service sector and is the companion to the ISM Manufacturing Index, which was better than expected at 56.6 in November. Within the report, new orders rose to 57.7 from 56.7 and employment advanced to 52.7 from 50.9.
Factory orders fell by a smaller amount than expected, declining 0.9% month over month in October, compared to the drop of 1.2% that economists had expected, and September’s 2.1% gain was favorably revised to a 3.0% increase.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 19 points (0.2%) to 11,382, the S&P 500 Index rose 3 points (0.3%) to 1,225, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 12 points (0.5%) to 2,591. Crude oil gained $1.40 to $89.40 per barrel, and the Bloomberg gold spot price gained $30.48 to $1,415.65 per ounce. For the week, the DJIA rose 2.6%, the S&P 500 Index gained 3.0%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.2%.
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