U.S. Employment Rises Much Less Than Expected Amid Surge In Coronavirus Cases
04 Dicembre 2020 - 10:40AM
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Reflecting renewed restrictions amid the recent surge in new
coronavirus cases, the Labor Department released a report on Friday
showing U.S. job growth slowed by much more than anticipated in the
month of November.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment rose by
245,000 jobs in November after jumping by a downwardly revised
610,000 jobs in October.
Economists had expected employment to increase by 469,000 jobs
compared to the addition of 638,000 jobs originally reported for
the previous month.
The weaker than expected job growth was partly due to the loss
of 99,000 government jobs amid a decline in the number of temporary
census workers.
At the same time, the report also showed a decrease in retail
employment as well as a significant slowdown in the pace of job
growth in the leisure and hospitality sector.
The Labor Department said the increase in employment in November
reflected notable job gains in transportation and warehousing,
professional and business services, and healthcare.
Despite the weaker than expected job growth, the report said the
unemployment rate dipped to 6.7 percent in November from 6.9
percent in October. The unemployment rate was expected to edge down
to 6.8 percent.
However, the bigger than expected drop in the unemployment rate
came as a 400,000-person decline in the labor force far outpaced
the 74,000-person drop in the household measure of employment.
"The latter is not too much of a concern given it follows a 2.3
million gain in October, but the drop in the labor force, which is
now 4 million below its pre-pandemic level, is a worrying sign that
the unemployed are giving up looking for work," said Michael
Pearce, U.S. Senior Economist at Capital Economics.
The report said average hourly employee earnings rose by $0.09
or 0.3 percent to $29.58 in November. Annual wage growth was
unchanged from the previous month at 4.4 percent.
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