Hiring slowed last month amid Covid-19 uncertainties, but people returned to the labor force in droves in a sign the tight labor market could be loosening.
The U.S. economy added a seasonally adjusted 210,000 jobs in November—the smallest gain since last December and a marked slowdown from an upwardly revised increase of 546,000 in October, the Labor Department said Friday. Almost 600,000 people joined the workforce, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.2% from 4.6%.