Jobs Fall in November

Total chemical employment in the U.S. declined in November from the month before, according to adjusted data from the Labor Department, but with only an almost imperceptible fall in the number of production workers. Total employment dropped by 1,100 from October to 878,500, while the number of hourly plant workers fell by only 100 to 513,400. Total chemical employment was down by 3,900 from November of last year, and the number of production workers was off by 6,000. Average weekly hours took a big drop, falling to 42.1 hours in November from 42.9 hours in the previous month. In November 2004, the average workweek was 42.4 hours.