Gallup: Unemployment Rate Up in Mid-November

Gallup’s tracking survey of the U.S. unemployment rate without seasonal adjustment has ticked upward in mid-November.

The October rate was 7 percent. The new rate released this morning by Gallup is 7.4 percent.

Seasonally adjusted unemployment is 7.9 percent, up from 7.4 percent in October.

These results are based on Gallup Daily tracking interviews, conducted by landline and cellphone with approximately 30,000 Americans from Oct. 14-Nov. 15 — 68.2 percent of whom are active in the workforce, according to the polling organization.

The underemployment rate has also jumped — as measured without seasonal adjustment, it’s 16.3 percent in mid-November, up from 15.9 percent in October.

The number of part-timers wanting full-time work was unchanged at 8.9 percent in mid-November.

“Gallup’s unemployment results for the 30 days ending on Nov. 15 suggest that the improvement in the U.S. unemployment situation found in October was short-lived,” stated Gallup’s chief economist Dennis Jacobe. “…At the same time, superstorm Sandy distorted weekly jobless claims, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and may be doing the same to Gallup’s unemployment results. The presidential election may also have disrupted the job market for a few days in early November.”