Five notable numbers from Friday’s U.S. jobs report by Reuters

Lindsay (NYSE 🙂 Dunsmuir, Jonnelle Marte and Dan Burns

(Reuters) – US employers added far fewer workers in December than expected, but the government’s monthly employment report also showed the lowest unemployment rate in the COVID-19 pandemic, albeit not for blacks, and showed rising workers’ wages.

Here are five highlights from Friday’s report: (Chart: Pandemic pay rise, https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ECONOMY/akpezeoolvr/chart.png)

MAKING MORE MONEY

The average weekly income of production and unsupervised workers rose by 1% in December compared to the previous month, the most since March, and rose by 5.8% compared to last December. While this is smaller than some of the year-on-year increases seen earlier in 2021, it is in line with the upward trend in wage development that has developed since the beginning of the pandemic, which shows that workers ’wages are rising in balance. most in four decades. (Graph: Unemployment has low pandemic, https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ECONOMY/klpykqnmepg/chart.png)

PANDEMIC LOW UNEMPLOYMENT …

The U.S. unemployment rate fell more than expected by economists last month and is rapidly closing at pre-pandemic levels. It currently stands at 3.9%, down from 4.2% in November and below the Federal Reserve’s long-term rate estimates. It is also above the 3.5% low before the pandemic began. A modest rise in the number of Americans in the workforce, even as the pace of employment gains has slowed, means it could easily fall further, with the U.S. central bank now clearly helping to raise its benchmark interest rate close to zero. sooner than expected and at a faster pace. (Chart: Unemployment rate by race and ethnicity at https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ECONOMY/JOBS/lgpdwjoxdvo/chart.png)

… BUT NOT FOR ALL GROUPS

Black workers were the only race or ethnic group to see the unemployment rate rise in December, when it reached 7.1% – more than double the white unemployment rate of 3.2% – which was described as “problematic” by US Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. Employment fell sharply for black men and women last month before the economy began to feel all the effects of the highly infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19, which led to the cancellation of a number of events and the closure of businesses. Black workers still saw an improvement from the end of last year to 2020, when the unemployment rate was 10%. But last month’s rise is a reminder of the racial gaps that remain in the job market. (Graph: December recruitment not so extensive, https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ECONOMY/zdvxoqxqapx/chart.png)

MUTE INDUSTRY CONTRACTING

Although recruitment on the balance sheet remains broad-based and at the level of industries consistent with a strong labor market, it was slightly lower in December. The Department of Labor’s “Diffusion Index”, which measures the well-distributed procurement activity in 257 private sector industries, fell to its lowest level since January and has fallen below average over the past 12 months. While the toughest industries such as leisure and hospitality continued to recover, hiring activity stalled or plunged into retail, financial services, healthcare and government. (Chart: US hospital employment, https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ECONOMY/jnpwejalrpw/chart.png)

HOSPITAL HOSPITAL ON OMICRON

Hospital employment – the first line of public health response to COVID-19 – has been sidelined since 2021 and fell in December to its lowest level since June. That was even though the venues were filled with overcapacity across the country with the rise of new cases of Omicron and the new Delta variant that is still circulating.