US Nonfarm Jobs Fell In December By 140,000; Hospitality Posts Big Losses

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday (Jan. 8) that the country lost 140,000 nonfarm jobs in December — putting an end to the employment gains that had accompanied months of improvement from the pandemic economic crash.

The BLS said the decline in jobs “reflects the recent increase in coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and efforts to contain the pandemic.” The agency added that employment fell in the leisure and hospitality sector, but that these were partially offset by gains in the retail trade, construction and professional and business services.

In fact, the leisure and hospitality industry lost 498,000 jobs, with three-quarters of the decrease — or 372,000 jobs — in food services and drinking establishments. Employment also fell markedly in the amusements, gambling, and recreation industry, with a loss of 92,000 jobs.

Since February, employment in leisure and hospitality has crashed — and is down by 3.9 million jobs, or 23.2 percent.

In another hard-hit sector, private education cut another 63,000 jobs in December. With the pandemic smashing up the nation’s economy, employment in private education is down by 450,000 since February.

Employment in government continued to get battered by the recession, declining by 45,000 jobs. And since February, government employment overall — municipal, state and federal — had declined by 1.3 million jobs.

In contrast to those massive job losses, the BLS reported that the number of jobs in professional and business services increased by 161,000. A big winner: temporary help services, which went up by 68,000 jobs.

While the retail sector has sustained the loss of many jobs — and major store chains have declared bankruptcy — the number of such jobs rose in December by 121,000. However, the BLS reported, nearly half of that growth was in “general merchandise stores,” such as warehouse clubs and supercenters.

Despite the job losses, the unemployment rate held steady at 6.7 percent. The unemployment rate had declined to that rate in November, down from October’s 6.9 percent.

The BLS added that its survey of U.S. households showed the number of unemployed, at 10.7 million, was unchanged as well. However, both the jobless rate and that number are drastically below their pre-pandemic levels from February — which were 3.5 percent, with only 5.7 million Americans unemployed.

The ADP National Employment Report for December, issued this week (Jan. 6), said that about 123,000 jobs were lost. The survey only covers the private sector.

Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute, said in a press release that December marked the first decline since April 2020. The report is produced using ADP’s actual payroll data and seeks to pinpoint the change in monthly nonfarm private employment.

“The job losses were primarily concentrated in retail and leisure and hospitality,” Yildirmaz said.