Job Market Is Too Tight for Fed Comfort as Labor Pool Shrinks

December 2, 2022, 5:30 PM UTC

US businesses are creating jobs at a rapid clip, but the pool of workers they can hire from keeps shrinking.

That’s the key takeaway from the November jobs report published Friday -- and it’s not an encouraging one for the Federal Reserve.

The labor shortfall that’s troubled employers since the pandemic hit became even more acute last month, as more Americans dropped out of the workforce. Wages jumped the most in nearly a year, as firms compete to hire scarce talent.

US payrolls rose more than expected with a gain of 263,000 in November, while the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%. Bloomberg’s Michael McKee has the numbers on “Bloomberg Surveillance.”
Source: Bloomberg

From the Fed’s point of view, all that extra cash in consumers’ pockets means more spending power, ...

Learn more about Bloomberg Law or Log In to keep reading:

See Breaking News in Context

Bloomberg Law provides trusted coverage of current events enhanced with legal analysis.

Already a subscriber?

Log in to keep reading or access research tools and resources.