So much for that optimism about an economic recovery.
Today's jobs report from the Labor Department was a bust. The U.S. economy added far fewer jobs in November than economists had expected, and the unemployment rate rose to the highest level since April. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 39,000 last month, way below the 150,000 gain that had been expected. The unemployment rate rose to 9.8% from 9.6%. Economists had expected the rate to hold steady at 9.6%.
October's number was revised higher to a gain of 172,000 jobs from an originally reported 151,000 increase.
The number of unemployed Americans rose to 15.1 million last month, and 6.3 million people, or 41.9% of unemployed Americans, have been out of work for 27 weeks or longer. The so-called underemployment rate, which includes people who have given up looking for a job and those who have been forced to work part-time but want a full-time job, held steady at 17%.
Average hourly earnings were $22.75 last month, up a penny from October. The average work week held steady at 34.3 hours.
Meanwhile, Republicans are using today's report to bolster their calls to extend the Bush tax cuts. "Today's heartbreaking unemployment report should be yet another wake-up call to Democrats that raising taxes in the middle of the worst economy in 25 years is a mistake," said Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) in a statement. Democrats, on the other hand, say that today's report supports the extension of jobless benefits.
So what does this mean for a job-based recovery? It doesn't look good. The jobless rate has been above 9% for 19 months, the longest stretch of time since the Labor Department started tracking data in 1949, and many experts believe it will stay at such levels. The labor market needs about 120,000 to 150,000 new jobs each month to keep up with the population alone, economists say, and gains of about 300,000 to make any dent in the jobless rate. So far, the economy hasn't come close -- it has added more than 300,000 jobs in only two months this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment