November jobs report may show cracks emerging in the labor market
FreedomWorks senior economist Steve Moore provides insight on the state of the economy on 'Making Money.'
All eyes will be on the November jobs report when it is released Friday morning as investors look for clues about the labor market's health in the face of higher interest rates and still-high inflation.
The Labor Department's high-stakes November payroll report, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, is projected to show that hiring increased by 180,000 last month and that the unemployment rate held steady at 3.9%, according to a median estimate by Refinitiv economists.
That would mark a slight increase from the 150,000 gain in October and the typical pre-pandemic monthly increase. However, it marks a decline from the average monthly gain of 258,000 recorded over the previous 12 months.
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«The labor market has not been able to avoid slowing and risks heading in 2024 are still visible on the horizon as unemployment creeps up and concerns about a hard landing persist,» said Daniel Zhao, an economist at Glassdoor. «If resilience was the theme for 2023, it remains to be seen if that theme will persist into 2024.»
A likely burst of hiring in the manufacturing and information sectors – the result of the UAW and SAG-AFTRA strikes both ending – may distort the headline figure in November.
Construction workers are seen on a job site in Miami on May 5, 2023. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The Federal Reserve is closely watching the report for evidence that the labor market is finally softening after months of surprisingly solid job gains as policymakers try to wrestle inflation under control. Although the consumer price index has cooled considerably in recent months, it remains above
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