Slow Job Growth in U.S. in Past 6 Months

As of November 2020, the U.S. Labor Department expects to report the lowest employment rate in the past six months. Employers across the country have seen a reluctance in new hiring due to the resurgence of COVID-19 cases along with the lack of additional government relief funds.

As infection, hospitalization, and death rates have recently surged, many predict a decline in employment in the following months, as more jurisdictions impose stricter COVID-19 restrictions. Therefore, experts believe that the Labor Department’s report from November will be the “last strong” report for a while until more substantial measures against the pandemic are found.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the United States has funneled more than 3 trillion dollars in relief efforts, which lead to record economic growth in the third quarter of this year. Additionally, job recovery only started back in May. However, despite the measures taken to increase unemployment, the United States sees its fifth consecutive month of deceleration in new jobs. This, along with decreases in consumer spending, manufacturing, and within the services industries, all suggest a general slowdown in recovery from the worst recession since the Great Depression. This could result in further dips in employment over the winter, along with the economy contracting in the first quarter of 2021. All in all, this will greatly affect the markets throughout America.

Additional Employment Stats:

Departures of temporary workers hired for census statistics also affect current job growth rates.
The pandemic has upended traditional holiday and seasonal hiring.
Women in the labor force have also been affected by the pandemic, as industries that used to employ them have been hit hard by the recession. This is compounded by the fact that many women have quit their jobs as the pandemic forced academic institutions to close, resulting in higher supervision requirements for children at home.
Unemployment of over six months surged by 1.2 million and 6.7 million for part-time workers.
Increases in the share of long-term unemployment have been rapid during this pandemic recession, which will later affect reemployment rates.
Finally, wages have not significantly increased recently, with the average hourly earnings barely rising by 0.1% since the previous months.