US jobless rate sinks to 4.2% as many more people find jobs

America’s unemployment rate tumbled last month to its lowest point since the pandemic struck, even as employers appeared to slow their hiring — a mixed picture that pointed to a resilient economic rebound that’s putting more people to work.

The government reported Friday that private businesses and other employers added just 210,000 jobs in November, the weakest monthly gain in nearly a year and less than half of October’s gain of 546,000.

But other data from the Labor Department’s report painted a much brighter picture. The unemployment rate plummeted from 4.6% to 4.2% as a substantial 1.1 million Americans said they found jobs last month.

Overall, the November jobs figures point to an economic recovery that looks resilient though under threat from a spike in inflation, shortages of labor and supplies and the potential impact of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.