The U.S. labor market unexpectedly showed a weakening performance in November with an increase in cases of Covid-19 infection restricting job offers across the state in the United States (U.S.).
The NFP recorded only a slight increase of 245,000 by mid-November. This performance also gives an indication of a slow decline compared to last October.
The increase in job offers in October was revised to 610,000 from the initial estimate of 638,000. This November's reading also disappointed analysts targeting an increase of 469,000.
The November net job increase was also the smallest in the six months since May. This reinforces the argument that the economic recovery recorded since May began to lose performance with millions of Americans losing the right to unemployment benefits and some companies having to announce lay-offs.
On the other hand, the private sector recorded an increase of 344,000 jobs in line with the ADP's initial forecast this week. However, the unemployment rate fell more than expected to a low of 6.7%. The U6 unemployment rate which measures the overall unemployment rate fell from 12.1% to 12.0%.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against the major currencies, continues to decline by 0.07% to a low of 90.650.
