Payrolls continue to increase in the United States, but at a slowing pace.

Nonfarm payrolls grew 263,000 in November and the national unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The payroll gain for October was revised upward 23,000 to 284,000. But the gain for September was revised downward 46,000 to 269,000.

With the latest numbers, payrolls have increased an average of 392,000 a month so far in 2022. But gains have averaged only 282,000 over the previous three months.

For November, 6 million people were counted among those unsuccessfully looking for work. Of those, 1.2 million have been out of work 27 weeks or longer. Another 3.7 million people were counted among those working part-time because their hours were cut or they were unable to find full-time positions.

The labor force participation rate edged down a tenth of a point to 62.1 percent, still below the rate before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

Payroll gains for November were spread out among industry sectors, Employment increased 88,000 in leisure and hospitality 45,000 in health care, 23,000 in social assistance and 20,000 in construction. Government payrolls grew 42,000. Employed declined  30,000 in retail trades.

The average workweek slipped a tenth of an hour to 34.4 hours. The manufacturing workweek shortened two-tenths of an hour to 40.2 hours.

Average hourly earnings rose 18 cents to $32.82. Over the past year, hourly earnings increased 5.1 percent.