Better-Than-Expected 215,000 Jobs Created In November

Despite Gains, There Are Still Lots of Things To Be Depressed About, Like AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz

Ka-ching:

) -- America's payrolls snapped out of a two-month hurricane-induced funk in November and grew by 215,000, the most since July. The unemployment rate held steady at 5 percent. The fresh snapshot of the jobs situation by the Labor Department on Friday suggested that employers were feeling much better about hiring now that energy prices have retreated from record highs and the energy supply and transportation disruptions from the trio of Gulf Coast hurricanes are easing.

The pickup in employment in November came after two dreary months where hiring turned lethargic because of the devastating storms.

In October, payrolls grew by just 44,000, even less than the government first reported a month ago. But September's showing -- a month that bore the brunt of Katrina, the most costly natural disaster in U.S. history -- showed that jobs actually grew by 17,000, according to revised figures released Friday. That's an improvement from the loss of 8,000 jobs previously reported.

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posted by Ace at 11:12 AM

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