The final jobs report of 2020: we're rounding up the good, the bad, and the ugly
If only BLS did a "Wrapped"... Instead, the Bureau of Labor Statistics just dropped "The Employment Situation" for November — aka: the final jobs report we'll see this year. We're wrapping up 2020 so far:
- February: The unemployment rate was 3.5%, and social distancing meant flaking on plans to (voluntarily) watch Netflix all day.
- March to April: Lockdowns hit, unemployment spiked to 14.7%, and the US economy lost a staggering ~22M jobs.
- May to October: Unemployment consecutively fell each month as businesses reopened, from 13.3% in May to 6.9% in October.
Drum roll for November... The US added just 245K new jobs, down from 638K in October. Unemployment fell slightly to 6.7%, but that's partly thanks to people dropping out of the labor force (not searching for work = not unemployed).
- The good: The US has added back more than 12M jobs since March, a promising vaccine is on its way, and stocks are at record highs.
- The bad: The labor force is 2.2% smaller than pre-pandemic. That's largely due to women dropping out to cover childcare.
- The ugly: 10.7M Americans are still unemployed, the pace of recovery is significantly slowing, and Covid is surging.
This could be the tipping point... The $2.2T stimulus in March, coupled with reopenings, drove a swift recovery. But now the rest of jobs will be harder to bring back, especially with new business restrictions: California imposed a regional stay-at-home order that closes bars, salons, and forbids outdoor restaurant dining. Centrists in Congress have unveiled a $908B economic aid proposal — November's jobs report could be a wake-up call to pass something ASAP.