In November, the U.S. saw an increase of 199,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, primarily driven by the government, health care, and leisure and hospitality sectors. The government contributed 77,000 jobs, while health care leisure, and hospitality added 49,000 and 40,000 jobs respectively. Although the manufacturing sector added 28,000 jobs, 30,000 unionized autoworkers returning from a strike slightly affected the sector's overall job gain, resulting in a net loss of 2,000 jobs. This situation highlights a divide between the private sector economy and the government economy.
Michael Faulkender, chief economist and senior advisor for the Center for American Prosperity, noted that there are essentially two separate economies. He highlighted the expanding government activities, massive deficit spending, and hiring within the government, health care, and social assistance industries. Notably, the number of public sector jobs under President Joe Biden is nearing a record high, with 22,967,000 government employees in November.
On the other hand, the retail sector experienced a decline of 38,000 jobs, and employment in transportation and warehousing also decreased by 5,000. However, social assistance and individual and family services showed some growth, adding 16,000 and 9,000 jobs, respectively.
The top job-producing sector in November was health care, which benefits significantly from government funds in the form of health insurance subsidies, ultimately funneling into hospitals. It's projected that the federal government will provide $1.8 trillion for subsidizing health insurance in 2023.
Biden has also directly sought to grow employment in the healthcare sector, announcing in August that the federal government would be giving $100 million in subsidies to train more nurses, according to a press release from the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Because of the higher inflation and interest rates that have resulted, the private sector economy is struggling and not doing much hiring,” Faulkender told the DCNF. “After accounting for the end of the auto strike, manufacturing employment declined in November and pending home sales are at the lowest level since the housing crisis. The problem is that these massive deficits are unsustainable; an economy built on something unsustainable will not be able to continue. I fear that this current approach will cause massive harm to the American people when a bond market auction fails and the Treasury is forced to implement immediate across-the-board cuts.”
The federal deficit clocked in at close to $2 trillion for the fiscal year 2023, nearly doubling the $1 trillion deficit the country sustained in fiscal year 2022 if Biden’s failed student loan plan is properly calculated. The U.S. sovereign debt was more than $33.8 trillion as of Dec.7, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Inflation has been increasingly taking a bite out of businesses’ ability to hire, with costs rising 17.1% across the entire economy since Biden took office in January 2021. In response to persistent inflation, the Federal Reserve has raised its federal funds rate to a range of 5.25% and 5.50%, the highest point in 22 years, raising the cost of credit and putting even more strain on businesses and consumers.