The U.S. unemployment rate last month surged to the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the 16th (local time), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its employment report that last month's unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, up from 4.4% in September, marking the highest level since the pandemic.
The U.S. unemployment rate reached a record high of 4.8% in Oct. 2021 before turning downward, even falling into the 3% range in 2023, but it turned upward last year.
The unemployment rate for October was omitted and only November was released due to the impact of the 43-day federal government shutdown.
Nonfarm payrolls, with October and November data released together, also decreased. As the layoff deferral measures implemented early this year were fully reflected, government institutional sector employment alone fell by 162,000 in October.
Analysts point to the fallout from the tariff bomb. After U.S. President Donald Trump unleashed large-scale tariff hikes, corporations responded by cutting hiring instead of raising prices, according to this assessment.
Wage growth also slowed. The average hourly wage in November rose just 0.1% from the previous month, missing the market estimate of 0.3%.
U.S. business outlet CNBC said, "The Trump administration's hard-line border control policies, which have reduced the inflow of immigrants who have traditionally supplemented the labor force, are also affecting the labor market."