Market Data
January 12, 2022
Employment by Industry: December Underperforms
Written by David Schollaert
The U.S. labor market disappointed once again, adding just 199,000 jobs in December, down from the 249,000 jobs added the month prior. Despite seeing the smallest gains in a year, the unemployment rate fell to 3.9%, from 4.2% in November. The latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the U.S. economy created far fewer jobs than expected in December, a trend seen over the past several months.
The December numbers cap a year defined by swings in a job market that has underperformed as it remains entangled with the pandemic nearly two years on. All told, data suggest that an absence of available workers – and not a lack of demand – may be part of the reason hiring has languished over the past few months.
