The nation’s unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent in November, that’s down from 9 percent in October as payrolls went up by 120,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While the jobless rate is now the lowest it’s been since March 2009, economists say it’s not all good news. The size of the work force diminished by about 315,000 as more people gave up and just stopped looking for work because they’re discouraged about the chances of finding a job.
Aside from that, 120,000 new jobs on payrolls is still considered to be weak growth.
Because of the “discouraged workers” who gave up on trying to find work and the effect that had on lowering the jobless rate, there is “a little bit of a dark cloud” behind the report, says economist Hugh Johnson, according to NPR.
Some analysts think that the hardships facing the U.S. economy will prompt the Fed to ease monetary policy further by buying up more bonds.
“We still have a very long way to go. I would favor the Fed going for a third round of quantitative easing,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “It’s the only powerful tool left, even though it’s losing some of its bang.”
Analysts say the economy needs to create at least 125,000 jobs every month just to keep the unemployment rate constant.
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