According to the U.S. Dept. of Labor, Americans hired approximately 210,000 new workers last month after economists expected 573,000 new jobs would be added, website MarketWatch reported last week.
Elsewhere in the monthly report, an estimated 594,000 people returned to the labor force and unemployment dipped slightly from 4.6% to 4.2%.
“Everything in the November jobs report,” The New York Times summarized, “was good except for the number that usually gets the most attention.”
Patrice Onwuka, who leads the Center for Economic Opportunity at the Independent Women's Forum, tells American Family News one of the “biggest losers” in the November report was retail jobs.
“So, instead of adding seasonal workers,” she advises, “retailers --- big stores --- they actually lost tens of thousands of jobs."
Regarding the overall U.S. economy, Onwuka predicts American workers are learning a hard lesson about inflation right now as they witness pay raises get gobbled up by rising prices.
Hourly earnings jumped an average of 4.8% over 2021 but inflation is breaking 30-year records for groceries, gasoline, clothing, and other basics.
“I think the biggest disappointment is going to be those workers who find that rising wages is a great thing until they realize it's not keeping up with inflation,” she says. “And, right now, we know that inflation is really surging."
Citing the report's more promising figures, Onwuka also noticed the number of people returning to work and says the unemployment rate for women fell to an even 4%.
"So it's disappointing in some areas,” she summarizes, “positive in some others.”
