The US unemployment rate rose to 4.6 per cent in November, the highest level in more than four years, in a further sign of weakness in the labour market. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesThe US unemployment rate rose to 4.6 per cent in November, the highest level in more than four years, in a further sign of weakness in the labour market. The unemployment figure was the highest since September 2021 and up from a rate of 4.4 per cent in September 2025. The higher unemployment rate was driven in part by an uptick in teenage unemployment, which rose from 13 per cent in September to 16 per cent in November. Stephen Brown at Capital Economics said the “positive momentum” on private sector hiring “suggests that the Fed will not be overly concerned by the upside surprise in the unemployment rate ... providing we see unemployment stabilise in the coming months”.

Source: The Irish Times December 17, 2025 05:10 UTC