text: Job Growth Slows; Unemployment Rate Plunges to 4.2% - Hamodia.com
  Business Job Growth Slows; Unemployment Rate Plunges to 4.2%
  Job Growth Slows; Unemployment Rate Plunges to 4.2%
  Friday, December 3, 2021 at 11:54 am | כ"ט כסלו תשפ"ב
  The 0.4-point decline in the jobless rate from October reported by the Labor Department in its closely watched employment report on Friday occurred even as nearly 600,000 people entered the labor force.
  The survey of businesses showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 210,000 jobs last month. Data for October was revised up to show employment rising by 546,000 jobs instead of 531,000 as previously reported. That left employment 3.9 million jobs below its peak in February 2020.
  Economists polled by Reuters had forecast that payrolls would advance by 550,000 jobs. Estimates ranged from as low as a gain of 306,000 jobs to as high as 800,000.
  Professional and business services payrolls increased by 90,000 jobs. Transportation and warehousing added about 50,000 jobs and construction payrolls rose by 31,000. Manufacturing employment increased by 31,000.
  Hiring continues to be hampered by worker shortages. November was the second full month of hiring following the expiration of federal government-funded unemployment benefits in early September. There were 10.4 million job openings at the end of September.
  Consumer spending and manufacturing activity have been strong. But the spread of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 poses a risk to the brightening picture. While little is known about the impact of Omicron, some slowdown in hiring and demand for services is likely, based on the experience with the Delta variant, which was responsible for the slowest economic-growth pace in more than a year last quarter.
  But there are signs that some of the millions of Americans who lost their jobs during the pandemic-induced recession are wading back into the labor force. The smaller survey of households showed 594,000 people entered the labor force last month.
  That raised the labor force participation rate, or the proportion of working-age Americans who have a job or are looking for one, to 61.8% from 61.6% in October. The labor force is down 2.4 million workers from pre-pandemic levels.
  Economists say a strong stock market and high house prices have increased wealth for many Americans, encouraging early retirements. Households have also accumulated massive savings and there has been a surge in self-employment.