Fewer jobs were added last month

As virus surged, number of positions created dropped to 245,000 from October’s 610,000

The U.S. economic recovery continues to slow, stranding millions who have yet to find new jobs after being thrown out of work by the coronavirus pandemic.

The latest evidence came Friday when the Labor Department reported that employers added 245,000 jobs in November, the fifth month in a row that the pace of hiring has tapered off.

The figure for October was revised downward to 610,000, from the initially stated 638,000.

The unemployment rate in November was 6.7 percent, down from the previous month’s rate of 6.9 percent. But that figure doesn’t fully capture the extent of the joblessness because it doesn’t include people who have dropped out of the labor force and aren’t actively searching for work.

November’s job totals were dragged down in part by the loss of 93,000 temporary census workers who no longer are needed now that the official counting has wound down.

More than half those knocked out of a job early in the pandemic have been rehired, but there still are about 10 million more people out of work than there were in February.

Many in that group are weeks away from losing their unemployment benefits, as the emergency assistance approved by Congress last spring is set to expire at the end of the year.

“We’re in an unusual position right now in the economy,” said Ernie Tedeschi, an economist at the accounting firm Evercore ISI.

“Far off in the distance there is sunlight” because of progress on a vaccine, he said, but until then, “we’re going to have a few of the toughest months of this pandemic, and there will be a lot of scars left to heal.”

COVID-19 caseloads have doubled in the past month, leading to new restrictions and tamping down shopping and other commerce.

In much of the country, colder weather is likely to discourage outdoor dining, which many restaurants have depended on.