Job growth rebounded in November as employers added 227,000 new workers to their payrolls. The report was noisy as hurricanes and the worker strike likely affected the current month’s data and revisions to October. With revisions, the three-month average was 173,000 new jobs. Wage growth increased 0.4 percent for the month and 4 percent from a year ago. As the Federal Reserve readies for its December rate decision, the noise in this latest report will not offer much guidance on the rate of change in what has been a cooling labor market.

Employers added 227,000 new hires to their payrolls in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Private-sector firms added 194,000 workers, a rebound from the revised 2,000 jobs lost in the prior month. Government hiring remained steady as 33,000 new employees were added. Goods-producing industries gained 34,000 jobs, led by 22,000 jobs added in the manufacturing sector. The pace of hiring in the construction sector ticked up to 10,000 workers from 2,000 in the prior month. Service-providing industries employment jumped by 160,000. The health care and social services sector remained strong, gaining 72,300 jobs and leisure and hospitality jobs jumped by 53,000. Employment in temporary help services increased by 1,600 after shedding 33,300 jobs in October. Hiring in the information sector was flat for the month. Data for September was revised up by 32,000 and data for October was up by 24,000. Combined, employment gains were 56,000 higher than previously reported.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2 percent in November from 4.1 percent in October. The labor force participation rate dipped slightly to 62.5 percent as 193,000 workers left the labor force. The household survey moved in the opposite direction from the establishment survey as the number of employed persons fell by 355,000, while the number of unemployed persons rose by 161,000.

Gains in average hourly earnings jumped 13 cents in November – a 0.4-percent monthly increase, though smaller than the 15-cent gain in October. Earnings maintained their 4-percent annual growth rate from last month. Average hourly earnings for production and non-supervisory workers increased by 9 cents, a 0.3-percent monthly gain, a slowdown from the 12 cents gained in October.