WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that just 256,000 jobs were added in December. October and November employment growth was revised downward by 8,000 jobs combined. The unemployment rate ticked down slightly to 4.1%. The number of unemployed persons fell to 6.9 million last month. There are over one million more unemployed Americans now than one year ago. The labor force participation rate ticked down slightly to 62.5% (still below pre-pandemic levels).
For women:
- The unemployment rate for adult women ticked down slightly to 3.8% from 3.9% last month.
- The unemployment rate fell to 5.4% for black women from 6% but rose marginally to 5.3% from 5.2% for Hispanic women.
- Women’s labor force participation rose marginally to 57.4%.
Patrice Onwuka, director of the Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) at Independent Women’s Forum, issued the following statement:
“Today’s jobs report signals that the labor market is hobbling along but is still propped up by taxpayers, not strong economic growth. The government has been a leader in monthly jobs creating public sector, but those aren’t economy-generated opportunities that signal growing businesses and a growing economy.
“For four years, President Biden grew government on the backs of hard-working taxpayers through inflationary federal spending. When Americans think of job growth, they don’t consider growing bureaucracy as a part of that.
“Furthermore, industries with low-paying jobs are adding workers faster than those with high-paying jobs. One in three jobs added last month were added in retail or food and beverage last month. While they may offer flexible hours, they don’t offer high pay.
“We believe that President Trump will take an even stronger deregulatory posture in his next administration than his first and look for ways to cut counterproductive regulations that free businesses to grow and add workers or benefits. Cutting taxes for businesses and hardworking Americans will also spur a bevy of pay increases, bonuses, and new benefits that workers need in today’s economy.”