U.S. job growth slows; unemployment rate plunges to 4.2% U.S. | N.S.A. (News|Stories|Analytics)

U.S. job growth slows; unemployment rate plunges to 4.2%

U.S. employment growth slowed considerably in November amid job losses at retailers and in local government education, but the unemployment rate plunged to a 21-month low of 4.2%, suggesting the labor market was rapidly tightening.

The four-tenths-of-a-percentage-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.

“Don’t be fooled by the measly payroll jobs gain this month because the economy’s engines are actually in overdrive as shown by the plunge in joblessness,” said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS in New York.
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.“While that still indicates that the economy is about 10 months away from closing the total payrolls employment gap, the unemployment rate is closing at a relatively rapid rate to the Federal Reserve’s estimate of full unemployment,” said Brian Bethune, professor of practice at Boston College.