Economics
U.S. Hiring Holds Up While Threats Multiply: Jobs Report Preview
- Gains may have slowed in November, but only modestly
- Progress in danger as virus surges before vaccine distribution
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U.S. employment gains probably slowed only modestly in November despite a record surge of coronavirus cases that still threatens to limit or even reverse hiring in coming months.
Friday’s jobs report will show nonfarm employers added 475,000 people to payrolls and the unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 6.8%, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. While those would be the smallest improvements since the rebound began in May -- and leave the economy 9.6 million jobs short of pre-pandemic levels -- the labor market is in better shape than analysts expected it to be a few months ago.