The State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, was the site of a speech by US President Joe Biden.
The November jobs report was weak, but President Joe Biden focused on the low unemployment rate and the yearlong trend of growth and economic recovery.
The Labor Department reported earlier in the day that the US economy created far fewer jobs than expected in November, in a sign that hiring started to slow even before the announcement of the new omicron Covid variant.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.2% from 4.6% as nonfarm payrolls increased by just 210,000. The labor force participation rate increased for the month.
In a speech at the White House, Biden did not mention the job creation data.
He said that the unemployment rate has fallen to 4.2%. We are looking at the biggest one-year decline in unemployment ever.
There are a variety of factors that could explain the discrepancy between the unemployment rate decline and the job growth.
The payroll tally used to assess the number of new jobs is different from the self- reported household survey used to arrive at the unemployment rate, according to several economists.
The unemployment rate of 4.2% is higher than the nonfarm payroll growth figure of 210,000.
People are asked if they are currently employed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Thousands of Americans started small businesses from home during the Pandemic, and those people would likely consider themselves employed for the purposes of the survey, even though they might only have one or two employees.
The headline monthly jobs figure is based on payroll reports from 150,000 larger businesses and government agencies. Thousands of entrepreneurs started tiny businesses in the past two years, but that survey could not capture them.
The jobs growth figure suggests that the economic recovery is not as strong as it could be.
The president chose to focus on the unemployment rate and not on the jobs number, which he mentioned once in passing. Initial jobs tally this year have seen upward revisions.
The October and September estimates were increased by 82,000.
Biden said that they can look forward to a brighter, happier new year because of the extraordinary strides they have made.
The president did not shy away from addressing the widespread anxiety among voters about inflation, supply chain issues and Covid even as he boasted of progress in the past year.
He said families are anxious. They are still uncertain about Covid, the cost of living and the economy as a whole. I want you to know that I hear you. We need to know that we are making progress. You need to see it and feel it in your own life.
The weaker than expected jobs numbers and fears that the stronger unemployment rate would convince the Fed to speed up its tapering measures caused the stock market to fall.
Gina Raimondo told CNBC that investors should look at the big picture and not focus on a particular month. This year, job growth has reached 6.1 million. The unemployment rate will return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2020 if the average monthly gain of 555,000 jobs is maintained.
Many economists predicted this would be earlier.
The professional and business services, transportation and warehousing, and construction sectors had the biggest gains in November. Retail saw a decline of 20,000 with the holiday season approaching. There were 10,000 jobs added by the government.
Worker wages increased in November and a year ago. The numbers were below estimates.
The president believed that the November jobs data had more good news than bad news.
Biden said that the holiday season was in good shape.
Jeffrey Cox contributed to the report.
