According to the Department of Labor, the economy added only 39,000 jobs in November, with the unemployment rate rising to 9.8%. The numbers surprised economists, with the forecast for November being 150,000 jobs created and an unemployment rate of 9.6%. The report also revised the job numbers for October, to 172,000 jobs added instead of 151,000. For September, the report put job losses at 24,000 instead of 41,000. Many were shocked by the numbers, and worried about what this will do to the recovery. Estimates put the number of jobs that need to be created each month to keep up with entries to the labor market art 100,000 to 125,000.
See "Disappointing Job Growth in U.S. as Jobless Rate Hits 9.8%", Motoko Rich, The New York Times, December 2, 2010