EXPLAINER: 5 key takeaways from the November jobs report

By PAUL WISEMAN
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — At first glance, the November jobs report was a sour one. U.S. employers added just 210,000 jobs. That was the lowest monthly gain since December — and not even half the total that economists had expected. It meant that hiring had decelerated even before the new omicron variant of the coronavirus has done any measurable damage to economy. Yet the overall portrait that emerged wasn’t nearly as dreary as the headline number suggested. The unemployment rate plunged from 4.6% to 4.2%, close to what economists consider full employment. And the Labor Department revised up its estimate of the hiring gains for September and October by a combined 82,000 jobs.