The job market in the US remains very strong during November despite large layoffs

The labor market in the United States remained very strong in November, with more than expected job creation and stable unemployment, despite the efforts of the Federal Reserve to cool economic activity and contain the inflationindicated official data.

In November, 263,000 jobs were created in the United States, well above the 200,000 that analysts estimated.

“There was a notable increase in employment in the leisure and hospitality sector, health care and government. Employment decreased in retail trade and in transportation and logistics,” the Labor Department said in a statement on Friday.

In October, 284,000 jobs were created, according to upwardly revised data, but September job creation was revised down to 269,000 from a previously announced 315,000. In these two months, 23,000 fewer jobs were created than announced.

On the other hand, the unemployment rate in November held steady at 3.7%, close to the all-time low of 3.5 percent. The figure is in line with what was expected by analysts.

The data points to continued positive momentum in job growth and still high wages,” Rubeela Farooqi, an economist at HFE, said in an analysis note.

The median hourly wage for private sector workers rose 18 cents to $32.82. In the past 12 months, wages have risen 5.1 percent.

The excellent health of the labor market raises questions about the fight against inflation led by the Federal Reserve (Fed).

Paradoxically, an increase in unemployment is desirable to reduce pressure on prices through the demand for goods and services, and wages.

The New York Stock Exchange responded negatively to the labor market data, surprised by much better-than-expected figures, which tempers expectations that the central bank will ease the intensity of the ongoing monetary tightening.

In early trading, the Dow Jones was down 0.86%, the technology-heavy Nasdaq was down 1.42% and the broad S&P 500 index was down 1.07%.

Layoffs in the technology sector

US-based employers announced nearly 77,000 layoffs in November, up 127% from October, according to research by consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas published Thursday.

However, the level of jobs lost since the beginning of the year (320,173) continues to be one of the lowest recorded since this study was published in 1993.

With one exception: the technology sector, which had been hiring heavily since the start of the pandemic thanks to the increased use of online services, is now suffering a setback.

That sector is home to by far the biggest layoffs, responsible for nearly two-thirds of the country’s job cuts last month. Tech companies even posted their highest level of layoffs in 20 years, according to the study.

Several Silicon Valley companies, such as Meta, Twitter, Lyft and HP, have recently announced significant staff cuts. The giant Amazon it has frozen hiring at its offices and may also lay off employees, according to news reports.

Recession still threatens the world’s largest economy, despite a rebound in growth in the third quarter.

The signals are mixed, on the one hand consumption, which remains solid, and employment, which remains very solid; On the other hand, manufacturing activity contracted in November for the first time since May 2020, the ISM index showed on Thursday.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell sounded optimistic on Wednesday about the chances of inflation returning to a healthy level for the economy without plunging the United States into recession.

The Fed targets annual inflation of 2 percent.