In the strongest employment report since the recession began nearly two years ago, the government said Friday that the nation’s employers had all but stopped shedding jobs in November, taking some of the pressure off of President Obama to come up with a wide-ranging jobs creation program.þþThe Labor Department reported that the United States economy lost 11,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate fell to 10 percent, down from 10.2 percent in October. þþThe government also significantly revised its September and October job loss estimates. September’s data was adjusted to show a loss of 139,000 jobs instead of 219,000, and in October 111,000 jobs were lost, instead of 190,000. Even allowing for the November loss, the revisions added 148,000 people to the list of those employed in the United States in November.þþThough the pace of job loss has been declining since a peak in January, the November number was surprising. Economists had been expecting a turning point to come in the late spring or summer, with employers finally adding workers as a recovery takes hold. The last time the number was so bright was in December 2007, when the economy added 120,000 jobs.þþ“It is clearly a much better picture, and appears to be mostly genuine,” said Nigel Gault, chief domestic economist at IHS Global Insight, who said he was encouraged by gains in the average workweek and the number of temporary workers hired. “It shows employers have come back so much and are starting to rehire.”þþBut Allen L. Sinai, the founder of the research firm Decision Economics, said there was reason for caution, given that 15.4 million Americans still remain unemployed.þþ“It is like a patient after having collapsed with a heart attack sitting up and taking a breath—nothing more than that,” Mr. Sinai said. “Things are getting better, but a one-month respite, frankly, means nothing in the context of the worst labor market ever seen since the 1930s.”þþThroughout the country, a large number of employees are working fewer hours than they would like because many companies are operating below capacity and have resisted adding staff until orders turn up and the incipient recovery seems likely to endure. Indeed, a broader measure of unemployment fell in November to 17.2 percent, from 17.5 percent in October. That measure covers not only those seeking work but those whose hours have been cut and people who have become too discouraged to look for work. þþThe number of Americans facing long-term unemployment, which includes people who cannot find work for 27 weeks or more, has been at record highs in recent months, reaching 5.6 million in October. It was more than 5.9 million people in November, or 38.3 percent of those unemployed. Once hiring resumes, those workers are likely to be among the last to land jobs. þþ“You create this class of people who essentially become permanently unemployed and can’t get back in,” Mr. Gault said. “You have people who have lost contact with the labor market, whose skills are not relevant for jobs for the future, who employers regard with skepticism because they have been out of work for so long.”þþIn recent months, the economy has shown modest signs of stability in manufacturing and construction — each a big source of job loss since the recession began in December 2007. Those sectors still posted losses in November, but were offset by gains in health care and temporary agencies. Still, economists worry about the prospects for an energetic recovery with consumer spending tepid even as holiday shopping gets under way. þþPresident Obama, who was in Allentown, Pa., on Friday as part of a series of visits to areas hit hard by the recession, will present a more detailed plan to create jobs in a speech on Tuesday. Mr. Obama, who convened a jobs summit in Washington on Thursday, will essentially call for another round of stimulus efforts, which will require the approval of Congress.þþRobert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said Friday that the president was pleased by the employment data. But he emphasized that the economy has yet to fully rebound. “We’re moving in the right direction, but there will certainly be bumps along the way,” Mr. Gibbs said. þþEconomists generally say that the worst of the recession has passed, and most forecast mild economic growth into next year. But that does not change the economic reality for millions of Americans, who must deal with piles of unpaid bills, worries about unexpected medical expenses and concerns about losing their homes.þþKathy M. Henry, 39, who lives in a subsidized apartment on the South Side of Chicago, was laid off from her job as an administrative assistant at an advertising agency two years ago. Since then, she says, she has applied for more than 500 jobs. She has received a $1,200 monthly unemployment check since August of last year, which she describes as not enough to support herself and two of her children who live with her. þþ“It’s a constant cycle,” she said. “I’ve applied everywhere, from big corporations to minute corporations, and I don’t even get an e-mail back. I’m worried people see me as old and out of touch and decrepit.”þþEarlier this week, Ms. Henry’s son, a high school senior, came home with a packet of class photographs. The $40 cost was beyond her means, she said, so she decided against purchasing a memento of her son’s senior year.þþIn Canada on Friday, the government reported that the country’s economy added more jobs than expected in November, erasing the losses in October. Statistics Canada reported a net employment gain of 79,000 in November, topping expectations of a 15,000 gain. The unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent from 8.6 percent in October.þþJeff Zeleny contributed reporting.þ
Source: NY Times
