United States: Job gains beat expectations in November
Latest reading: Employment growth reached 64,000 in November, following a loss of 105,000 jobs in October and exceeding market forecasts for a 50,000 increase. Hiring gains were concentrated in health care and construction during the month, while federal government employment continued to decline.
However, this wasn’t enough to stop the unemployment rate rising to 4.6%, the highest since 2021. Taking a broader view, the latest data shows that the economy has added very few net jobs since April; from April to November, job gains averaged 17,000 per month vs almost ten times that amount in the prior 12 months.
Panelist insight: Digging into the data, TD Economics’ Thomas Feltmate said:
“The takeaway is that the labor market remains on a relatively soft footing, with employers showing little appetite to hire, but are also reluctant to fire. That said, labor demand has cooled more than supply in recent months, which is what’s behind the steady upward drift in the unemployment rate.”