Unemployment dips slightly in November, but COVID-19 continues to hinder economic recovery

ORLANDO, Fla. — The U.S. unemployment rate fell slightly to 6.7 percent in November, according to a report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday.

However, the agency notes that the pace of improvement from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed in recent months.

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If there was optimism over the summer that the nation was turning a corner in the fight against COVID-19, that optimism is dissipating as cases across the country are soaring.

University of Central Florida economist Dr. Sean Snaith agrees, the jobs numbers released Friday show the economic recovery is decelerating.

“It seems like we’ve started to slow down the rate of people returning to the workforce and economic recovery...The economic recovery wasn’t going to be sustained as what we saw in the third quarter.”

Dr. Snaith notes the drop off in jobs returning. That number peeked in June at almost 5-million jobs.

It has declined every month since, coming in under a quarter-million for November.

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“The remainder of the path here, if we’re going back to where we were pre COVID-19, I think that’s going to be a tougher road to hoe,” Dr. Snaith says.

In March, Central Florida resident Angelica Arevalo lost her job at a local hotel.

“I don’t know when the next time I will be at work will be,” she says. “I don’t know when the next time I will be able to get another paycheck.”

Her industry is one that continues to lag far behind, as tourism and business travel have not returned.

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People like Angelica are reflected in November’s drop in labor force participation.

Leisure and hospitality is still down more than 3-million jobs since February.

Cox Media Group