3 Disappointing Job Performance Numbers

The U.S. added 199,000 jobs in December, well below economists’ projections.

SO WHAT

The lukewarm December jobs report won’t help the widespread perception that President Joe Biden is mishandling the economy.

THE NUMBERS

The figures from the Department of Labor’s monthly report, released Friday, are particularly worrying amid the rise of the coronavirus omicron variant.

Experts fear spiking cases threaten to stem the nation’s ongoing economic recovery.

  • “Today’s jobs report is a disappointing bookend to a historic year in the job market,” Daniel Zhao, senior economist at Glassdoor, told Fox Business.
  • “The year ended on a sour note, with job gains slowing even more than in November. New and unpredictable waves of COVID-19 variants threaten to throw the recovery into reverse, showing that we’re still at the mercy of the pandemic,” Zhao added.
  • The U.S. added 210,000 jobs in November.
ON THE OTHER HAND

It wasn’t all bad news.

  • The national unemployment rate dropped to 3.9% from 4.2%.
  • According to a Labor Department survey, released Tuesday, 4.5 million people quit their jobs in November, hinting at a strong job market for workers.
  • The contradiction? More people say they’re finding work at the same time employers report sluggish job creation.
THE TWEET THAT SUMS IT ALL UP