Progress, but at a decelerating rate:
The US economy added 531K jobs in October of 2021, the most in 3 months and above market forecasts of 450K as Covid-19 cases dropped and employers offered higher wages and more flexible hours. The biggest job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality (164K), in professional and business services (100K), in manufacturing (60K), and in transportation and warehousing (54K) while employment in public education declined (-65K). So far this year, monthly job growth has averaged 582K. Nonfarm employment has increased by 18.2 million since a recent trough in April 2020 but is down by 4.2 million from its pre-pandemic level. Labour shortages continue to weigh even after federal government-funded unemployment benefits have expired and schools reopened. Some investors believe such shortages could get worse due to the White House’s vaccine mandate. source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Keeps ratcheting down, telling me it’s not about demographics: