We just got the nan-adjusted jobs report for November and the headline states 146,000 jobs were added and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7% from 7.9%. Retail, business and IT services, and hospitality all gained jobs (+131,000), while the manufacturing and construction sectors lost jobs (-29,000). On the flip side the participation rate declined to 63.3%. Setting aside the need to apply adjustments down the road, this report seems to indicates the economy continues to muddle along.
Some things to consider:
Some things to consider:
- Seasonal workers for retail and holidays
- Weather prevents some from working
- Market sees this as a beat and futures are up
And for some additional perspective on just how difficult this recovery has been, have a look at the below chart from Calculated Risk (I saw a similar chart at the end of last year from an economist at Bloomberg):
