US unemployment rose to 4.6% in November, its highest level in four years, showing a cooling labour market. Hiring improved slightly to 64,000 jobs, but October saw a loss of 105,000 jobs after a government shutdown.
US unemployment rises further, hovering at highest since 2021
The US jobless rate picked up again in November, hovering at its highest level in four years, official data showed Tuesday in a report underscoring a labor market cooldown in the world's biggest economy.
The report, delayed by a lengthy government shutdown, also indicated that the US economy lost 105,000 jobs in October.
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Hiring picked up again in November to 64,000, but this was still a slower pace than before, according to the Labor Department figures.
"Employment rose in health care and construction in November, while (the) federal government continued to lose jobs," the department said.
There was a sharp decline of 162,000 government jobs in October, "as some federal employees who accepted a deferred resignation offer came off federal payrolls," the report added.
In November, unemployment climbed to 4.6 percent from 4.4 percent in September.
There was no October jobless rate as officials were unable to retroactively collect data after the shutdown, which lasted till November 12.
The figures will be closely scrutinized for their potential bearing on US interest rates.
The Federal Reserve has slashed rates three times in a row this year as employment weakened, but hinted that the bar is likely higher for further cuts ahead.
A deteriorating jobs market could nudge the central bank to lower rates further to boost the economy, despite some policymakers' worries that higher inflation could become persistent.
While President Donald Trump's tariffs have not caused a broad inflation surge, firms say they have caused business costs to rise and fueled uncertainty.
Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, swiftly slammed Trump's "chaotic tariffs and failed economic policies," saying they were "hammering the labor market and harming workers."
'Not hiring'
"The US economy is in a jobs recession. The nation has added a mere 100,000 in the past six months," said Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union.
She added that most of these jobs were in health care, a sector that is "almost always hiring" as the American population ages.
"Almost all other sectors are flatlining or laying workers off right now," Long said in a note. "Businesses are not hiring as they adjust to tariffs, uncertainty conditions and AI."
But Samuel Tombs, chief US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, flagged that much of this drag came from a slump in federal payrolls, with related cost-cutting now in the past.
"Most of the further leap in the unemployment rate to 4.6 percent in November, from 4.4 percent in September, looks due to the federal government shutdown," Tombs said.
In another sign that the economy appears to be cooling, a separate report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday said that retail sales were flat in October at $732.6 billion.
This was prompted by a drop in sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers, as well as at gasoline stations.
Consumers also pulled back at restaurants and bars, with sales slipped 0.4 percent between September and October.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed)
