Non-farm Payrolls disappointed the markets

According to the monthly Non-farm Payrolls report, the number of people employed in the US non-agricultural sector increased by only 210 thousand in November after an increase of 546 thousand in the previous month. This indicator turned out to be significantly lower than analysts' expectations (573 thousand).

At the same time, despite the large shortage of personnel, the unemployment rate decreased from 4.6% to 4.2%. At the same time, the labor force participation rate increased over the month to 61.8%, which is the highest since March 2020.

The Labor Department noted that the U.S. economy created far fewer jobs than expected in November, before the threat of a new Covid strain roiled markets and raised concerns about a slowdown in economic growth in the winter. 

The sectors that showed the largest increase in November include professional and business services (90 thousand), transport and warehousing (50 thousand), as well as construction (31 thousand). Retail trade decreased by 20 thousand employees, even though the holiday shopping season is approaching.