WASHINGTON - Employers boosted payrolls by a respectable 132,000 in November, but the unemployment rate edged up to 4.5 percent as jobseekers streamed into the labor market by the thousands with the approaching holidays.
The tally of new jobs added to the economy last month marked an improvement from the 79,000 new positions generated in October and was the most since September, the Labor Department reported Friday. It mostly a cheerful message at a time of year when shopping peaks.
Although the unemployment rate crept up from a five-year low of 4.4 percent in October, the politically sensitive number pointed, nevertheless, to a labor market that is in good shape despite a slumping housing market and a struggling auto sector.
Thousands of people - encouraged by brightening job prospects - poured into the labor market looking for work last month, a factor that played a role in pushing the overall civilian unemployment up.
The increase in payrolls was stronger than the 105,000 jobs that economists were expecting. Analysts were anticipating a rise in the jobless rate, however.
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