The disappointing jobs numbers for October were even worse than they looked.
The Department of Labor said on Friday that the U.S. economy added only 12,000 jobs in October, far undershooting expectations for over 100,000 jobs.
But the private sector actually lost 28,000 jobs in October. The jobs numbers were only pushed into positive territory by the government sector adding 40,000 workers.
Compared with a year ago, private sector employment is up just 98,000.
Manufacturing employment fell by 46,000. This was the third consecutive monthly decline. Compared with a year ago, manufacturing employment is down by 31,000.
Retail jobs fell by 6,400. Professional and business services declined by 47,000. Leisure and hospitality jobs also declined.
Social assistance and healthcare jobs, often referred to as government-adjacent payrolls, rose by more than 51,000.
The last time the private sector as a whole shed jobs was April of 2020.