Job growth in November was lower than expected. Unemployment ticked down, but in part because of discouraged workers. The K-shaped recovery is upon us. James Hohmann at WP:
The leisure and hospitality sector has 3.4 million fewer jobs than in February. Only 31,000 jobs were added back in those industries last month, and there are mounting anecdotal reports of layoffs amid the worsening wave of covid-19.
The Transportation Department said Thursday that U.S. airlines employ 81,749 fewer Americans than in March, per Reuters. Southwest Airlines warned Thursday it could soon furlough another 6,800 employees, or about 12 percent of its workforce, per CNBC.
A recovery tracker from Opportunity Insights shows that the employment rate for people making more than $60,000 a year is up compared to the start of the year, while low-wage jobs are down nearly 20 percent.
The Dow topped 30,000 for the first time ever last week. But lines of cars at food banks stretch for miles.
“Data from the scheduling software company Homebase shows the number of hours worked by employees, the number of employees clocking in and the number of open businesses falling beginning in late October, reaching its lowest levels since the spring,” Eli Rosenberg reports. “Mobility, measured in from cellphone data according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas began falling nationally in mid-November. Consumer spending, measured by credit card and debit card data compiled by Opportunity Insights, began to fall at the end of October … The number of Americans reporting trouble getting enough to eat has been creeping up, according to Census Bureau data. About 13 percent of households with children reported being sometimes or often not having enough food to eat. More than one in three people surveyed recently said that they are having difficulty paying for household expenses.”
