Unemployment falls to 6.9% but only half of the jobs destroyed in the pandemic have been recovered

By Leticia Miranda - NBC News

The U.S. economy added 638,000 jobs in October, far more than the 530,000 analysts predicted, but even this positive figure remains an indication of the challenges the next president will face in rebuilding the job market after the coup. pandemic.

The unemployment rate fell to 6.9%, one percentage point below September's 7.9%, according to data released this Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Unemployment rate graph in the US Telemundo News

The country has replaced about half of the 22 million jobs lost in the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic.

US Unemployment Assistance Claims Fall

Oct. 23, 202000: 17

The slow rise in hiring comes as the country faces record rates of coronavirus infection and already records more than 120,000 daily cases.

In a statement after its last monetary policy-making meeting on Thursday, the Federal Reserve reiterated that "the current public health crisis will continue to weigh on economic activity, employment and inflation in the short term, and poses considerable risks to companies. economic prospects in the future medium term ".

October's increase includes rehiring in the automotive and manufacturing sectors, as well as seasonal hiring in the retail sector in the face of an unprecedented holiday shopping season.

The nature of retail jobs this holiday season has shifted from in-store positions to warehouse roles as consumers are buying massively online.

"This could be a permanent effect, as more purchases are made online and fewer people are needed to work in retail," said Brian Rose, an economist at UBS Financial Services.

Over the past month, retail stores have begun filling their ranks with seasonal workers to meet the demand for online shopping in an effort to end the year on good terms.

But so far, seasonal hires total just 378,200, a drop of about 35% from last year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a career and job relocation firm.

"Consumers are still eager to go to stores because they are concerned about their health and safety," according to Jack Kleinhenz, an economist at the National Retail Federation.

Chain stores such as Old Navy, Kohl's and Macy's have expanded shopping options for their customers, which include ordering online and picking up merchandise at their stores.

In recent years, retailers have transformed their back rooms into mini-centers where plant workers help assemble orders online for shipment.

Gap told investors last month that it will permanently close some stores and convert others into e-commerce warehouses.

Seasonal job openings that include the term "warehouse" have risen from 1% in 2019 to more than 33% this year, according to Julia Pollak, an economist at ZipRecruiter.

"A lot is Amazon, but even other retailers - Nordstrom, Gap," he said, "there is a massive shift in roles."

Online shopping this holiday season is expected to grow 33% from last year to $ 189 billion, according to data from Adobe Analytics, and if consumers get another round of stimulus checks, they could spend 11,000 millions of additional dollars online.

However, with a tense political landscape threatening consumer confidence, it is unclear whether retailers will end the year in the red.

Millions of unemployed Americans remain without the vital support of $ 600 a week from additional unemployment benefits that kept them afloat until it expired in July, and many are spending their savings.

There are signs that the economy is slowly emerging from a deep recession, but certain sectors remain more vulnerable to the risks of a pandemic, several economists told NBC News.

"We will see minor improvements in those industries in the future, but we will see labor gains [in general], because the economy is slowly recovering from the labor crisis," said Gus Faucher, economist at PNC Financial Services Group.