WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A surprisingly soft 112,000 new U.S. jobs were created in November, the Labor Department said on Friday, casting a shadow across an already downbeat holiday sales season with consumers apparently worried by scarce work and high oil prices.þþThe November figure -- the weakest since July -- came in well below Wall Street economists' forecasts for 180,000 new jobs, though the unemployment rate eased to 5.4 percent from 5.5 percent in October.þþIn a further sign the labor market is improving only slowly, the Labor Department lowered its estimates for job growth in both September and October.þþOctober's gain was marked down to 303,000 from an originally reported 337,000-job increase. The department cut September's total to 119,000 from 139,000.þþThe battered U.S. dollar came under renewed pressure immediately after the jobs data, losing more ground against the euro. Bond prices rallied on hopes the number might brake the rate at which the Federal Reserve raises U.S. interest rates but stock futures fell on worries about potential profit pain.þþHURRICANE REBUILDING TRAILS OFFþþSome of the weaker performance reflected a trailing off of October's heavy construction activity in Southeastern states after four hurricanes swept through the region.þþOnly 11,000 construction jobs were added last month, compared with 65,000 in October. October's construction gain was the strongest since March 2000.þþManufacturing employment posted a third successive monthly drop in November, losing 5,000 jobs after what had appeared to be the beginning of a recovery in the hard-hit sector earlier this year.þþThe report showed some 16,000 retail jobs were lost in November -- a tally that surprised analysts since the vital Thanksgiving-to-Christmas holiday sales season generally sees retailers adding to their job rosters.þþAverage hourly earnings barely edged up to $15.83 from $15.82 in October, the smallest increase for any month this year and a sharp contrast to the steep escalation in gasoline and energy prices that have sapped spending power.þþEarly reports from U.S. retailers have indicated a disappointing start to holiday sales on the post-Thanksgiving weekend and reports say some of the biggest, such as Wal-Mart, already are discounting some items to try to spur business.þþEconomist Elisabeth Denison of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in New York said tepid job creation won't stop Fed policy-makers from raising short-term interest rates again when they meet on Dec. 14, but further weak data might give the central bank pause in 2005.þþ``It won't dissuade the Fed from tightening just now in December but if we get continuing disappointment there is a chance will pause sometime next year if GDP (gross domestic product) slips below trend,'' Denison said. þþþþ
Source: NY Times
