The economy added 199,000 jobs in December, below experts' expectations, although the unemployment rate fell from 4.2% to 3.9% at a time when companies are struggling to fill vacancies and many people remain reluctant to go back to work.
A woman requests information at a job-finding fair in Miami Gardens, Florida, on September 3, 2021. Marta Lavandier / AP
[A record 4.5 million people left their jobs in November and there are almost 11 million unfilled job offers]
The outbreak of the wave of infections caused by the omicron variant of COVID-19 may have had an impact on the December figures, leading many parents to stay at home with their children instead of going to work.
With information from The Associated Press