Economy adds a subpar 210K jobs in November
Report also notes drop in unemployment rate
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy added a disappointing 210,000 jobs in November, even as the unemployment rate fell to a new pandemic low, reflecting a recovery complicated by ongoing pressures.
The 4.2% unemployment rate, down from 4.6% in October was a notably positive development, because it came as more workers returned to the workforce, looking for jobs. During much of the pandemic, drops in the unemployment rate have at times come from workers leaving the workforce for a variety of reasons including public health concerns, childcare challenges and retirement.
The uneven jobs report, derived from two separate surveys compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is just the latest wrinkle as the country works to recover from the unprecedented public health and economic crisis wrought by the pandemic. Rising prices, ongoing supply chain backlogs, clogged ports and labor imbalances continue to pose challenges to the country’s recovery.
Coronavirus cases began rising the week the surveys were taken, and the data, which is seasonally adjusted according to pre-pandemic patterns, is still vulnerable to surprising shifts from the way the pandemic has thrown off the once routine rhythms of the economy.
But many economists said that the report was more encouraging upon a deeper look.
“Holistically this report looks pretty good,” said Drew Matus, chief market strategist for MetLife Investment Management. “More people are participating in the economy and fewer of them are unemployed. When you take those two together, I think they’re more important than what the headline payroll figure might look like.”
Plus, the BLS has been revising initial jobs data upward routinely over the past six months, including some of the biggest revisions on record. While the revisions were modest, September and October followed that pattern, with BLS also reporting a total of 82,000 more jobs gained than originally reported.
November was a notably sluggish month for jobs growth — the slowest of the year so far. Leisure and hospitality, the sector hit hardest by the pandemic, had a particularly low month, gaining back only 23,000 jobs.