Variable Interest Entities - Assets and Liabilities of Consolidated VIEs Prior to Consolidation (Parenthetical) (Detail) (USD $)	Feb. 28, 2013	Nov. 30, 2012
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Carrying amount of mandatorily redeemable preferred interest of consolidated subsidiaries	$ 358,951,000	$ 348,051,000
Mortgage- and Asset-backed Vehicles [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Secured financing included in inventory and eliminated	$ 7,600,000	$ 7,700,000

Represents nonconsolidated mandatorily redeemable interests held in Jefferies High Yield Holdings, LLC ("JHYH"), which are entitled to a pro rata share of the profits and losses of JHYH and are scheduled to terminate in 2013, with an option to extend up to three additional one-year periods. Financial instruments issued by a subsidiary that are classified as equity in the subsidiary's financial statements are treated as noncontrolling interests in the consolidated financial statements.

No definition available.

Name:	jef_MandatorilyRedeemablePreferredInterestOfConsolidatedSubsidiaries
Namespace Prefix:	jef_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant