Hiring slows in US after record year of job gainsWASHINGTON – Hiring in the US slowed last month, as firms struggled to hire workers and continued to grapple with the effects of coronavirus.Employers hired just 199, 000 people in December, a second month of weaker than expected gains.But the jobless rate dropped sharply to 3.9 percent and wages rose, the Labor Department said.The mixed data, which was collected before Omicron’s full force was felt, follows a record year of jobs growth.“For a second straight month, we have conflicting pictures emerging,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com. “This report appears to reflect the state of play before the worst impacts of the Omicron variant hit the economy.”“We will have to wait until the following report, covering the job market picture in January, to get a clearer picture,” he added.The US added more than 6.4 million jobs in 2021, regaining many of the positions lost […]
Hiring slows in US after record year of job gains
