A sign of employment is displayed in front of a Target store on February 5, 2021 in San Rafael, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Employers added a few more jobs at the end of last year, but employment fell as the labor market ended in 2020 on an uncertain note, the Labor Department reported on Tuesday.
Total openings rose to 6.65 million in December, better than the FactSet estimate of 6.6 million.
This left another gap of about 4.1 million workers who remained unemployed, many of whom were still displaced by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Although job offers continue to gain, they remain below the pre-pandemic level of just over 7 million in February 2020.
Job vacancies increased by almost 300,000 in professional and business services, which saw its opening rate increase from 5.6% to 6.9%.
Available positions decreased in leisure and hospitality, which fell by 127,000 to 761,000 for that month, which saw the opening rate fall from 6.2% to 5.5%,
Employment fell sharply for that month, falling by almost 400,000 to 5.54 million, according to the survey on job openings and turnover, a report carefully reported by policymakers for indications of a weakening labor market.
Most of the decline in employment came in the hotel industry, which fell from over 300,000 to 777,000. Within this group, arts, entertainment and recreation accounted for a decline of 82,000, as the employment rate fell from 7.8% in November to 3.5%.
Hospitality, which includes hotels, restaurants, bars and casinos, saw a 63,000-percent increase in layoffs, or 3.9%, up from 3.2% in the previous month.
Overall, non-farm wages fell by 227,000 in December. January saw a return of 49,000, but more than 10 million remain unemployed, up 4.4 million from the pre-pandemic level.
JOLTS data runs one month behind the number of salaries. The unemployment rate in January fell to 6.3%, but this came amid a sharp decline in the workforce.
The level of layoffs, an indicator of workers’ confidence, rose slightly, while 3.29 million workers left their jobs, an increase of 106,000 for that month.
Total separations fell slightly to 5.46 million.