The pace of U.S. job growth is expected to have slowed again in November, another sign that demand for new workers is slowing amid the Federal Reserve’s historic efforts to cool the economy.
Nonfarm payrolls are expected to have risen by 200,000 last month, according to a consensus forecast compiled by Bloomberg, down from October’s jump of 261,000 and September’s rise of 315,000. Prior to the November release, the US economy had added 407,000 jobs each month on average this year, up from 562,000 per month in 2021.
The unemployment rate should remain stable at 3.7%.
The new data, to be released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, comes as the U.S. central bank attempts to rein in economic activity by rapidly raising borrowing costs in a bid to tame inflation. which is still close to multi-decade highs.
Consumer demand began to calm, the housing sector weakened and the technology sector suffered a wave of job cuts. However, the economy as a whole has shown surprising resilience, despite the Fed’s benchmark policy rate now nearing 4%.
In December, the central bank is expected to end its streak of 0.75 percentage point rate hikes and move to a half-point hike, although it ultimately targets an interest rate level higher than scheduled for next year. Many officials have signaled that the benchmark policy rate could eventually reach 5%.
Learn more about the upcoming US jobs report here.
