The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday (Dec. 4) that America added 245,000 nonfarm jobs in November — a continued improvement since the pandemic economic crash, but far lower than the 440,000 job gains that economists had expected.
The BLS also said the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 6.7 percent in November from October’s 6.9 percent. However, that number also showed a slowing of the recovery, given that the unemployment rate had dropped a full percentage point in October. In addition, the agency said the number of long-term jobless (27 weeks or more) grew by 385,000 to 3.9 million, or more than one-third of the total unemployed.
“These improvements in the labor market reflect the continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it,” the bureau said. “However, the pace of improvement in the labor market has moderated in recent months.”
In fact, Mark Hamrick, Bankrate.com senior economic analyst, noted that the November employment gains were “the lowest number since April, which capped a period of 22 million jobs lost.” He added that the decline in November’s jobless rate “happened for a less-than-constructive reason — with the labor force participation rate moving lower, meaning fewer people working and looking for work. … The number of unemployed, at 10.7 million, remains historically elevated.”
The BLS reported that notable November job gains occurred in transportation and warehousing, professional/business services and healthcare. For instance, the transportation and warehousing sector saw jobs grow by 145,000 in November. However, that still remained 123,000 below the sector’s pre-pandemic employment level from February.
Elsewhere, employment in professional and business services increased by 60,000, with about half the gain occurring in temporary help services. In addition, the healthcare sector added 46,000 jobs in November, while construction gained 27,000 jobs.
On the downside, the BLS said employment declined in government and retail trade. Employment in government declined markedly, by 99,000 jobs.
However, that mostly reflected the loss of federal government jobs as 93,000 temporary workers hired for the 2020 Census were let go. But at the same time, employment in local government education continued to decline, falling by 21,000.
The BLS said the retail sector’s loss of 35,000 jobs reflected a decrease in seasonal hiring. All told, retail sector employment has fallen by 550,000 jobs since February.
On the other hand, the agency said some retailers were going like gangbusters in November, noting that “furniture and home furnishings stores and automobile dealers added 6,000 jobs and 4,000 jobs, respectively.”
All in, Bankrate’s Hamrick said that “with safe and effective vaccines on the way, we know brighter days are ahead. Unfortunately for now with a hamstrung economy and raging pandemic, we’re effectively stuck in the midst of winter.”
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