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The U.S. job market continues to exhibit robust performance, with the creation of nearly 200,000 new jobs in November. This positive trend provides hope for a gentle economic slowdown. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, non-farm payrolls increased by 199,000 last month, surpassing the expectations of economists who had predicted around 175,000 new jobs, CBS News reported. Although employment growth has slowed compared to the average monthly gain of 240,000 over the past year, the job market remains resilient.
Economist Mark Zandi seemed impressed–and optimistic about the state of economy. He tweeted, “Amazing! The job market’s performance is extraordinary. From today’s job report: lots of jobs, steadfastly low unemployment, sturdy non-inflationary wage growth, rising participation and boomy labor force growth. Nothing in today’s report suggests recession. Just the opposite.”
Zandi is the chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, where he directs economic research. His research interests encompass macroeconomics, financial markets, and public policy. He analyzes the economic impact of government spending policies and monetary policy response.
While things might be looking up for most Americans, this isn’t exactly the case for Black America. Black men and Asians saw in uptick in unemployment. Black Americans as a whole saw a dip. White Americans saw their jobless rate fall 0.2 percentage points to 3.3 percent. The unemployment rate for Black Americans, which is the demographic with the highest jobless percentage in the U.S., held steady last month at 5.8 percent. But the jobless rate for Black men age 20 or older went up more than 1 percentage point to 6.4 percent from October’s 5.3 percent. These numbers might reflect the fact that Black Americans were hit harder by business shutdowns during the covid-19 pandemic when the unemployment rate for Black workers peaked at 16.8 percent in 2020, versus the overall unemployment rate’s April 2020 high of 14.7 percent, CNBC reported.
The unemployment rate also witnessed a decline, dropping to 3.7 percent from 3.9 percent. This favorable outcome is particularly noteworthy in light of concerns about the economy potentially tipping into a recession due to rising unemployment rates in previous months. The end of strikes by autoworkers and Hollywood actors contributed to a boost of 47,000 in payrolls, though the underlying pace of job additions has been on a gradual decline.
The Federal Reserve closely monitors the monthly jobs report to make informed decisions regarding interest rates. With this strong jobs report, most strategists now predict that the central bank will maintain its current interest rates at the upcoming meeting on Dec. 13. This decision aligns with the Fed’s efforts to temper economic growth and control inflation.
Some sectors, such as retail, had job losses, but others, like health care and government, enjoyed gains. There were 49,000 new government jobs and 77,000 new jobs in health care.
“If you have a sector like wholesale or retail trade start to shed workers, they can very easily transition into something like leisure and hospitality,” Michael Reid, a U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets, told The New York Times. “If those sectors start to see a pullback in spending, we still do see strength in health care and social assistance.”
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