The 40-day strike by about 46,000 workers at GM plants in Michigan and Kentucky restricted employment gains to 128,000 jobs in October. Employment growth has averaged 167,000 per month this year.
U.S. job growth likely accelerated in November as former striking workers returned to General Motors’ (GM.N) payrolls, which would confirm that the economy remained on a moderate expansion path despite a prolonged manufacturing slump.
The Labor Department’s closely watched monthly employment report on Friday is also expected to show steady wage gains and the unemployment rate holding near a 50-year low.
The report would validate the Federal Reserve’s decision last month to cut interest rates for the third time this year, but signal a pause in the easing cycle that started in July when it reduced borrowing costs for the first time since 2008. U.S. central bank policymakers are expected highlight the economy’s resilience when they meet on Dec.10-11.
Recent reports on the trade deficit, housing and orders for big-ticket goods have offered a fairly beat assessment of the economy, but trade tensions continue to loom over the longest expansion, now in its 11th year.
According to a Reuters survey of economists, nonfarm payrolls probably increased by 180,000 jobs in November, with manufacturing recouping the 36,000 positions lost in October, and bring job gains back in line with the trend for this year.
The 40-day strike by about 46,000 workers at GM plants in Michigan and Kentucky restricted employment gains to 128,000 jobs in October. Employment growth has averaged 167,000 per month this year.
“We are experiencing a Goldilocks economy, neither too hot nor too cold,” said Sung Won Sohn, a business economist at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. “But I continue to worry that the recession in manufacturing and poor business confidence could eventually hurt job growth and economic activity.”
Manufacturing activity contracted for a fourth straight month in November. The factory malaise has been blamed on the Trump administration’s 17-month trade war with China, which has bruised business confidence and undercut capital expenditure.
Though Washington and Beijing are working on a “phase one” trade deal, the United States has ratcheted up tensions with other trade partners including Brazil, Argentina and France. President Donald Trump said on Thursday the U.S. was having meetings and discussions with China “that are going well.”
The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We specialize in industries such as Semiconductor and Electronics, Aerospace and Defense, Automotive and Transportation, Biotechnology, Healthcare IT, Manufacturing and Construction, Medical Device, Technology, Media and Telecommunications, Chemicals and Materials.
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