The Labor Department reported Friday that just over 200,000 jobs were added by the U.S. economy in November, less than half of what most analysts predicted.
Officially, there were 210,000 new hires last month, according to the jobs report.
Approximately half a million new jobs were predicted in Friday’s report by economists.
The newly released figures follow a stellar report published in October that showed 530,000 jobs were created, exceeding expectations.
According to the Labor Department, the unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.2% for the month.
In November, the number of people without jobs in the United States dropped by 542,000.
As well as that figure, the unemployment rate is lower now than it was in late 2020 when COVID-19 was having its worst impact.
However, both remain higher than in the pre-epidemic period.
“This year, monthly job growth has averaged 555,000,” the department remarked.
“Nonfarm employment has increased by 18.5 million since April 2020 but is down by 3.9 million, or 2.6%, from its pre-pandemic level in February 2020.”
The underwhelming jobs report prompted a response from President Joe Biden on Friday.
According to him, it is important to point out that the unemployment rate of blacks and Hispanics is falling quickly.
“Wages are up. Workers in transportation and warehouses have seen their wages go up 10% this year,” he said.
“Americans have more in their pockets than they did last year. Household income is stronger than it was before the pandemic. Applications for new small businesses are up 30%, were cutting child poverty in America by 40%.”
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The private sector added 534,000 new jobs in November, topping analysts’ expectations, according to ADP and Moody’s Analytics on Wednesday.
There were 222,000 new unemployment filings last week, according to the Labor Department. A week earlier, there were 194,000 new employment claims, the fewest in any week dating back to 1969.
In addition, Biden said his administration is currently working to improve access to food during the holiday season for needy families.
“Shelves will be well-stocked,” he said.
The United States President also noted that port operations have been picking up recently, which was helping to mitigate the economic effects of the global supply chain disruptions this year.