EMPLOYMENT LAW: Nation’s Unemployment Rate Shows Improvement, DOL Notes

December 2, 2011

Washington - The US Department of Labor has noted a significant drop in unemployment rate, a statement released by the agency in its website said.

According to its November 2011 Employment Situation report, a significant drop of 8.6 percent in November, a full 1.2 percentage points lower than last year, was noted which indicates improvement in terms of employment.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said nonfarm payroll employment has added 140,000 private sector jobs last month, which means that the agency had added 1.9 million private sector jobs over the past year or an average of 157,000 a month.

Solis said this is due to government’s efforts to add jobs and increase hiring of people. The secretary has also noted increased hiring in many companies in all regions and all sectors to keep pace with growing consumer consumption and demand.

"Personal income and consumer spending are both up. Americans are showing more confidence in the economy. Now it's incumbent upon Washington to give them confidence in our government to solve our biggest challenges and put millions of Americans back to work. This is a strong report, but we can't forget those Americans who lost their jobs during the recession and are still struggling”, the Secretary added.

Solis also asked the US Congress to extend emergency unemployment benefits to long-term unemployed this month as she warned that nearly 5 million Americans will lose their benefits next year.

"Congress must act immediately to extend emergency unemployment benefits and payroll tax relief. We must pass these measures this month to continue the positive trends we're seeing in today's report,” she stressed.