Headline Roundup • January 7th, 2022
US Adds 199,000 Jobs in December
Summary from the AllSides News Team
U.S. hiring slowed in December to 199,000 new jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The number of jobs added was roughly half of what economists expected, and represents the fewest jobs added in any month of 2021 and the lowest total since the economy cut over 300,000 jobs in December 2020. Meanwhile, the jobless rate declined from 4.2% to 3.9%. The U.S. added a record number of positions in 2021, but is still down 3.6 million jobs compared to before the pandemic. Jobs totals for recent months were later revised upwards, suggesting December's numbers aren't as disappointing as they may seem. November’s job gain of 210,000 was revised up to 249,000, and October’s gain was upgraded from 531,000 to 648,000.
Framing of the numbers was similar across the spectrum. CNN Business's headline said the jobs numbers were "disappointing." Reports from Fox Business, Wall Street Journal (Center bias) and NBC News (Left bias) all framed the jobs numbers as low and hiring as having slowed down. The Associated Press reported on the numbers differently; its headline said "many more people" had found jobs, and its report described the jobs growth as "modest" and the job market as "still-solid." Some reports from right-rated sources blamed coronavirus stimulus for continued economic issues; coverage from left-rated outlets more often blamed the surge of the Omicron variant.
Featured Coverage of this Story
(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File / AP Newsroom)
U.S. job growth faltered in December just before the rapid spread of the new omicron coronavirus variant cast a fresh threat over the economy and its recovery from the pandemic.
The Labor Department said in its monthly payroll report released Friday that payrolls in December rose by 199,000, sharply missing the 400,000 jobs forecast by Refinitiv economists. The unemployment rate, which is calculated based on a separate survey, dropped to 3.9% from 4.2% — the lowest level since the pandemic began.
The labor market had been gaining momentum after a delta-induced slowdown over the...
(AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, File)
U.S. employers added a modest 199,000 jobs last month while the unemployment rate fell sharply, at a time when businesses are struggling to fill jobs with many Americans remaining reluctant to return to the workforce.
At the same time, Friday’s jobs report from the Labor Department showed that the nation’s unemployment rate fell from 4.2% to a healthy 3.9%, evidence that many more people found jobs last month. Indeed, despite the slight hiring gain reported by businesses, 651,000 more people said they were employed in December compared with November.
Wages...
CNN Business
The US economy added 199,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department reported Friday. That was the fewest jobs added in any month of 2021.
That was a major disappointment: Economists had forecast jobs growth of double that number.
So how could forecasts be so off again?
"We just have to acknowledge that this is still such an unusual time. In the best of times it's hard to tell," said Sarah House, economist at Wells Fargo.
A lot of the models that economists use aren't adapted to capture the labor shortage, for example,...
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