US employers hired only 210,000 more workers in November, missing economists’ predictions for stronger growth.

Economists polled by Reuters had been expecting non-farm payrolls to increase by 550,000 — the monthly statistic representing how many people in the US are employed in manufacturing, construction and goods companies.

However, despite the big hiring miss, the unemployment rate fell to 4.2 per cent from 4.6 per cent as more Americans returned to the workforce.

Important to note, the mixed jobs data does not reflect the emergence of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus at the end of November, which could affect the economic recovery.

Leisure and hospitality, which includes bars, restaurants, hotels and similar businesses, saw a gain of just 23,000 after being a leading job creator for much of the recovery. Although the sector has regained nearly 7 million of the jobs lost during the pandemic, it remains about 1.3 million below its February 2020 level with an unemployment rate stuck at 7.5 per cent.

Sectors showing the biggest gains in November included professional and business services (90,000), transportation and warehousing (50,000) and construction (31,000). Even with the holiday shopping season approaching, retail saw a decline of 20,000. Government lost 25,000 jobs.

“The disappointing 210,000 gain in non-farm payrolls in November suggests the labour market recovery was faltering even before the potential impact of the new Omicron variant, possibly as a result of the rising infection rates in the north-east and Midwest,” said Andrew Hunterm, senior US economist at research consultancy firm Capital Economics.

“Nevertheless, the Fed will still push ahead with its plans to accelerate the pace of its QE taper at this month’s FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] meeting.”

The Federal Open Market Committee meeting is a regular session held by the members of the Federal Open Market Committee, a branch of the Federal Reserve that decides on the monetary policy of the United States.