The United States’ employment growth slowed in November, registering the year’s weakest rise, highlighting companies’ inability to fill millions of openings as the epidemic persists.

According to US Labor Department figures, the US economy added just 210,000 jobs last month, falling far short of the approximately half-million growth predicted.

The unemployment rate decreased to 4.2%, but labor-force participation increased to 61.8 percent.

US President Joe Biden mainly overlooked the missing estimates in his speech on Friday, instead focusing on the decline in unemployment.

“At this point in the year, we’re looking at the sharpest one-year decrease in unemployment in history,” Biden remarked.

Overall, the November job data speak to a durable economic recovery, albeit one threatened by a surge in inflation and the probable impact of the Omicron version of the coronavirus.

“This year, we can look back on a remarkable amount of development. Our economy is far more robust than it was a year ago “Mr. Biden stated.

“We can look forward to a brighter, happier new year ahead because of the remarkable advances we’ve achieved.”

The information was gathered prior to the advent of the Omicron version in the United States.

Little is known for certain about the new strain, and extensive company shutdowns are seen as improbable. Nonetheless, it may deter some Americans from traveling, shopping, and dining out in the coming months, thereby slowing the economy.

In reaction to the Omicron variation, Biden also proposed a slew of new policies, including a campaign to assure free and simple access to immunizations and booster doses.

Biden has also worked to reduce inflation and the supply chain bottleneck that has prompted concern among American buyers as the Christmas season approaches.

“You have to see and feel it in your own life, at the dinner table and in your bank accounts. And it is for this reason that my staff and I fight every day to offer consistent, decisive, and focused action in order to solve the problems we still confront “Mr. Biden stated.

For the time being, though, Americans are spending freely, and the economy is expected to expand at a 7% annual rate in the last three months of the year, a significant improvement from the 2.1 percent rate in the previous quarter, when the Delta variation hampered growth.

The employment report is made up of two surveys: one of businesses and one of households. According to the employer survey, hiring has slowed across industries, with reductions at automakers and retailers. According to the household survey, there has been strong employment growth and a return to the labor force.

While the headline figure disappointed, the decline in the unemployment rate and the increase in labor force participation may help keep the US Federal Reserve on pace to tighten policy sooner than expected if inflation proves to be more persistent than previously assumed.

This week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told US senators that he is “not at all certain” that inflation would fall next year.

The central bank’s dual mandate requires it to balance price stability and maximum employment, and some officials are concerned that withdrawing monetary support too soon could harm the job recovery.