U.S. employers added just 210,000 jobs in November, well below the estimated half a million that economists had predicted, another disappointing report from the Department of Labor on Friday.
It's a sign that companies are still cautious as the coronavirus pandemic drags on.
The data was compiled before Wednesday's announcement that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was found in the U.S.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was on live television, doing a roundtable for MSNBC's Morning Joe, when the number dropped.
'That's a number that feels a little, what? A little off?' Co-host Mika Brzezinski asked, as economists had predicted 550,000 jobs to be added.
Psaki said she couldn't publicly comment about the Department of Labor report yet.
'Well, I know this sounds a little archaic, but I can't comment on them until 9:30 a.m., by rules because I work at the White House,' Psaki said. 'I will say what people can expect the president to continue to say today, month-to-month, is that what we're seeing are good trends.'
President Joe Biden welcomed the news, saying America was back to work.
'Today, we have incredible news that our unemployment rate has fallen to 4.2% – a level experts didn’t expect us to achieve until 2024,' he tweeted.
'We’ve created 588,000 jobs per month on average this year – a record.'
The U.S. economy added just 210,000 jobs in November, which is 340,000 below the expected 550,000 jobs, in a sign that companies are still wary of the coronavirus pandemic. The data was compiled before Wednesday's announcement that Omicron was in the U.S.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was informed of the modest number while on live television. She said on MSNBC's Morning Joe that she couldn't comment on the report until 9:30 a.m., but said overall there were 'good trends' associated with the economy
President Biden welcomed the numbers as 'incredible news' despite being below forecasts
The unemployment rate fell to 4.2 per cent, the lowest since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis. It was 4.6 per cent in October.
The U.S. has gained back 83 per cent of the jobs lost due to the pandemic.
Additionally, wages increased.
White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain tweeted out that the labor participation rate saw an uptick too.
It's at its highest rate since March 2020, when the pandemic triggered widespread closures and lockdowns.
Georgetown University economics professor Nada Eissa said Friday on CNBC that the participation rate increase was 'encouraging.'
'We still have aways to go. And I do worry that we might end up with a permanently lower labor force, given the trends with kind of the older workers leaving the labor force,' she added. 'We'll see how it develops, but at this point it looks good.'
Austan Goolsbee, who served in the Obama administration, also said on CNBC, 'This great resignation, I think, is in large measure the "I'm not working for somebody else anymore, I'm starting my own thing," you've seen record levels of business formation.'
The numbers come after a brighter October, when employers added 531,000 workers to their payrolls.
October saw the best numbers since July, before the Delta variant of COVID-19 stalled hiring.
President Joe Biden will address the November jobs report Friday morning from the White House
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Thursday that Omicron could pose a 'significant' risk to the global economy.
'Hopefully it's not something that's going to slow economic growth significantly,' Yellen said in an interview with Reuters. 'There's a lot of uncertainty, but it could cause significant problems. We're still evaluating that.'
Yellen said that new strain of the coronavirus could exacerbate supply chain issues and rising inflation.
November's modest employment gains could temper expectations that the economy was poised for stronger growth this quarter after hitting a speed bump in the third quarter due to the Delta variant.
Consumer spending and manufacturing activity have been strong.
But the Omicron variant of COVID-19 poses a risk to the brightening picture.
While little is known about Omicron some slowdown in hiring and demand for services is likely, based on the experience with Delta, which was responsible for the slowest economic growth pace in more than a year last quarter.
There were 10.4 million job openings at the end of September. Millions of Americans who lost their jobs during the pandemic recession remain outside the labor force.
Economists say strong stock market and 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.
Biden has been plagued with sluggish poll numbers, exacerbated by the administration's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
His victories on the Congressional front have done nothing to move the needle up, a poll from Morning Consult found this week.
He stands at 45 per cent approval and 52 per cent disapproval in a survey conducted between November 28-30.
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