Total nonfarm payroll employment in the United States increased by 210,000 jobs in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the unemployment rate declined to 4.2 percent. On average, the U.S. economy has added 555,000 jobs per month this year, and the increase in jobs during September and October was revised upward to 379,000 and 546,000, respectively.

The BLS found weak retail hiring in advance of the holiday shopping season — employment in retail trade fell by 20,000 in November on a seasonally adjusted basis. And retail trade employment remains below its pre-pandemic level. As a comparison, employment in transportation and warehousing increased by 50,000 jobs in November, and the segment employs 210,000 more people than it did in February 2020.

Despite the slightly underwhelming figures, the report is strong enough for the Federal Reserve to announce a likely doubling of its pace of quantitative easing asset purchase tapering, notes Oxford Econom