November jobs report misses forecasts as US adds just 210,000 new jobs amid supply-chain nightmare
- The US added just 210,000 jobs in November, badly missing the median estimate of 550,000 payrolls.
- The unemployment rate tumbled to 4.2% from 4.6%. That came in below economist estimates.
- The report shows hiring slowing as the Delta wave subsided and Omicron fears emerged.
Nonfarm employment in the United States increased by 210,000 in November, data released by the country’s Bureau of Labor Statistics showed on Friday. The figure came in significantly below market expectations. The unemployment rate was down 0.4 percentage points from the previous month, landing at 4.2% in November. The labor force participation rate was up 0.2 percentage points to 61.8%. The workforce grew the most in the professional and business services sector, with 90,000 jobs gained. Transportation and warehousing employment rose by 50,000, followed by the construction and manufacturing sectors that each added 31,000 jobs. Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 8 cents from October to reach $31.03 in November, translating to a year-on-year increase of 4.8%. The report shows hiring slowing dramatically from October’s revised gain of 546,000. November was expected to extend the fall’s healthy job growth after the Delta wave hammered hiring through the summer. Yet new headwinds stood in the way of blockbuster gains. Virus case counts picked up through the month after sliding through October. The supply-chain crisis eased somewhat but remained a risk to the recovery. The various bottlenecks possibly delayed hiring plans at affected firms.