employers couple 227,000 jobs in November as labor market rebounds bloodless growth in the past month, when hurricanes and labor disputes affected hiring.
The unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1% last month. The U.S. was projected to gain 200,000 jobs last month, according to economists surveyed by financial data firm FactSet. The unemployment rate was expected to remain stable at 4.1%.
Hiring accelerated last month, but the overall job market has been weakening in recent months due to pressure from the Federal Reserve's restrictive monetary policy, with the central bank raising lending rates to its highest point in 23 years to combat inflation. Has increased. this is also it's taking more time The struggle for thousands of Americans out of work to find new jobs is a sign of cracks within the once-hot labor market as employers continue to face the impact of higher borrowing costs.
“After the storm and employee strikes of the past month, we got a bounce back from the headline payroll numbers and positive revisions,” Brian Anderson, head of fixed income at Laffer Tengler Investments, said in an email. “Job creation may not be as strong as in previous years, but we are not seeing a disaster in the job market.”
The end of labor disputes in October, including a strike by Boeing machinists, could lead to an increase of about 40,000 jobs, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a report released ahead of the jobs report.
The October jobs report was revised up to 36,000 new jobs last month, after the original report said employers added 12,000 jobs that month.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said hiring increased in health care, leisure and hospitality, the government sector and social assistance in November. However, the retail industry shed 28,000 jobs last month.
Lowest layoffs in two decades
The Fed raised interest rates 11 times in 2022 and 2023 to tackle the highest inflation in 40 years. The economy continued to grow despite very high borrowing rates for consumers and businesses, defying forecasts, although the job market has been sluggish since the beginning of the year.
Still, Americans overall are enjoying unusual job security. This week, the government reported that layoffs fell to just 1.6 million in October, down from the lowest level in two decades before the pandemic. Also, the number of job openings bounced back from a 3 1/2-year low, a sign that businesses are still looking for workers, even if hiring has slowed.
The economy grew at an annual pace of 2.8% from July to September due to healthy spending by consumers. Annual economic growth has been above 2% in eight of the last nine quarters. And inflation has fallen from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022 to 2.6% last month.
Nevertheless, Americans were deeply frustrated with still-high prices under the Biden-Harris administration, and that's partly why they decided last month to return Donald Trump to the White House.
Progress against inflation and a slowdown in hiring, which has eased pressure on companies to raise wages and prices, prompted the Fed to cut its key rate in September and again last month. Another rate cut is expected to be announced at the Fed's meeting on December 17-18.
Contributed to this report.