Five things to know about the November jobs report | TheHill - The Hill

The November jobs report gave a muddled picture of an improving economy. .

The November jobs report defied expectations across the board.

The divergence between the top-line jobs gain and other gauges of labor market strength left economists baffled, but generally optimistic. .

Labor force participation rose to 61.8 percent, the highest level since the onset of the pandemic, and the full-time employment rate for prime-age workers rose above 70 percent. .

The top-line jobs gain would have been 778,000 without seasonal adjustments, noted Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, and the household survey showed a 1.1 million increase in the number of employed Americans.

The November jobs report showed encouraging signs of workers sidelined by the pandemic, particularly women, coming back to the job market.

Women’s labor force participation rose 0.2 percentage points to 56.2 percent, returning to August levels after falling during the delta outbreak.

The uptick in women’s labor force participation is an early but promising sign as businesses still face intense pressure to hire more workers. .

Average hourly earnings rose 0.3 percent last month and wages on the whole rose 4.8 percent in the 12 months leading into November, unchanged from October’s annual rate

Though the report has ample signs of strength for the labor market, the November jobs haul could be hard to pitch for the president and his party as they attempt to cement their economic agenda

Biden sought to emphasize the bright spots of the report, including the rapid plunge in the jobless rate coupled with a growing labor market