Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 01, 2012

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Summary of Income Tax Contingencies [Table Text Block]

The following is a reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of gross unrecognized tax benefits for uncertain tax positions, including positions which impact only the timing of tax benefits for the years ended November 30, 2012, 2011 and 2010.

	2012			2011			2010
Unrecognized tax benefits at December 1,	$	3,015		$	2,783		$	3,021
Additions for current period tax positions	382			591			574
Reductions for current period tax positions	(37		)	—			—
Additions for prior period tax positions	—			—			57
Reductions for prior period tax positions	(631		)	(193		)	—
Reductions for lapse of statue of limitations/settlements	(460		)	(203		)	(809		)
Changes in interest and penalties	(60		)	37			(60		)
Unrecognized tax benefits at November 30,	$	2,209		$	3,015		$	2,783

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) [Table Text Block]

The provision for income taxes consisted of:

	2012			2011			2010
Current:
Federal	$	37,673		$	34,374		$	35,292
State	2,484			1,558			2,526
Foreign	10,228			11,784			10,099
Deferred:
Federal	8,763			9,196			631
State	805			1,086			(1,085		)
Foreign	(296		)	(1,051		)	(391		)
	$	59,657		$	56,947		$	47,072

Schedule of Income before Income Tax, Domestic and Foreign [Table Text Block]

Earnings before income taxes and noncontrolling interests included the following components:

	2012		2011		2010
Domestic income	$	145,433	$	139,840	$	109,303
Foreign income	37,564		41,468		34,120
	$	182,997	$	181,308	$	143,423

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation [Table Text Block]

The provision for income taxes resulted in effective tax rates that differ from the statutory federal income tax rates.  The reasons for these differences are as follows:

	Percent of Pre-Tax Earnings
	2012		2011		2010
Statutory U.S. tax rates	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income taxes, net of federal benefit	1.4		1.3		1.0
Tax credits	(0.1	)	(0.7	)	—
Foreign taxes at different rates, net of credits	(2.0	)	(2.5	)	(1.6	)
Domestic production activities deduction	(2.6	)	(2.4	)	(1.6	)
Other, net	0.9		0.7		—
	32.6	%	31.4	%	32.8	%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities [Table Text Block]

The components of the net deferred tax liability as of November 30, 2012 and 2011 were as follows:

	2012			2011
Deferred tax assets:
Deferred compensation	$	9,925		$	8,260
Loss carryforward and tax credit items	2,603			3,265
Accounts receivable	5,911			5,840
Inventories	5,062			5,069
Pensions	26,222			26,643
Accrued liabilities and other	1,403			9,591
Valuation allowance	(1,911		)	(1,959		)
Total deferred tax assets, net	49,215			56,709
Deferred tax liabilities:
Percentage of completion	(366		)	(468		)
Plant assets	(25,708		)	(27,616		)
Goodwill and acquired intangible assets	(39,431		)	(37,483		)
Other deferred tax liabilities	(402		)	(613		)
Total deferred tax liabilities	(65,907		)	(66,180		)
Deferred tax liability, net	$	(16,692	)	$	(9,471	)