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A resurgence of coronavirus cases in the United States is having a plateau effect on the economic recovery. The July 2020 jobs report from the government shows the pace of hiring has slowed significantly after a short-lived rebound in the spring. (Aug 6)
AP Domestic
U.S. employers added a disappointing 245,000 jobs in November amid a surge in COVID-19 cases and more state business constraints as well as the looming halt of extended jobless benefits and other federal lifelines for millions of Americans.
The unemployment rate fell from 6.9% to 6.7%, the Labor Department said Friday.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated that 486,000 jobs were added last month.
Job gain have slowed for five straight months since peaking at 4.8 million in June. The nation has recovered 56% of the 22.2 million jobs wiped out in the health crisis as states have reopened restaurants, shops and other businesses shuttered by the outbreak, and brought back many furloughed workers.
But the rehiring has been offset by a resurgent virus across most of the country. This week, the nation’s one-day death toll passed 3,000 and hospitalizations topped 100,000, both unprecedented nadirs in the crisis. California announced a new stay-at-home order Thursday and states such as Illinois, Michigan and Louisiana have imposed new restrictions on restaurants, gyms and other outlets. Hiring in leisure and hospitality, which includes restaurants and bars, slowed substantially in November after leading the jobs recovery for months as eateries reopened.
The number of businesses open and employees working fell sharply last monthr, according to Homebase, which provides employee scheduling software.
Partly as a result, clawing back the remaining 9.8 million jobs shed during the outbreak could take several years, economists say. More temporary job losses are becoming permanent. Many businesses are downsizing or closing for good. Sectors such as business travel and event planning could be diminished for years to come.
Last month, the number of Americans on temporary layoff fell by 441,000 million to 2.8 million as furloughed workers were rehired. About a quarter of unemployed workers said they were on temporary layoff, down from a third the previous month. That means many workers could still be brought back to their old jobs but the number is shrinking.
The ranks of workers permanently laid roughly held steady at 3.7 million.
“There’s been a little bit of a pause” in hiring in November because of the surge in coronavirus cases, says Jim McCoy, senior vice president at ManpowerGroup, a leading staffing agency.
Several other factors also crimped job gains last month. Another 93,000 temporary workers for the 2020 Census were cut, and state and local government payrolls fell by 21,000 amid ongoing budget pressures.
A drop in retail traffic due to the pandemic reduced retail hiring for the holidays, leading to a loss of 35,000 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis. That was partly offset by stepped-up job gains in trucking, warehousing and delivery, a jump that Goldman Sachs attributed to much stronger online spending.
Meanwhile, extended jobless benefits for unemployed Americans who have exhausted their initial 26 weeks or so and a national moratorium on evictions, among other federal assistance, are set to expire at the end of the month. That could further batter hiring as consumer spending slows and the economy faces the risk of toppling into its second recession since February.
Congress has been deadlocked for months over a new relief package that could avoid such a fate, but key lawmakers this week voiced optimism about reaching a deal on a roughly $1 trillion measure before the holidays.
Many businesses are reopening amid the COVID-19 pandemic while others have been hit by new restrictions. (Photo: LeoPatrizi, Getty Images)
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