The US Department of Labor announced Friday that the nation's unemployment rate fell 0.4 percent to 8.6 percent in November, the lowest level since March 2009, and the first time the US unemployment rate has fallen below 9 percent since May 2009. Although US employers added 120,000 jobs last month, many of the jobs added were part-time or seasonal jobs that generally experience an uptick in the November and December months. Many people also stopped looking for work in November, reducing the number of people actively pursuing employment and therefore resulting in a drop in the overall unemployment rate.
In Canada, the unemployment numbers were more pessimistic, and the unemployment rate rose for a second consecutive month in November, this time by 0.1 percent to 7.4 percent. One bright spot was that despite recent declines, Canadian employment was up 1.2 percent from a year ago.