December 2020 Economic Report

2021 is here and as you know, we’re not out of the woods yet. 140,000 jobs were lost in December due to the increase in COVID-19 cases and the efforts to contain it. And at 10.7 million the number of unemployed people is still about 4.9 million higher than its February 2020 level.

Amtec Tip of the Month

It’s great when your team is running smoothly, but what should you do when a team member is a poor fit? “No matter how talented or intelligent an employee may be, if they aren’t in a job that allows them to leverage their personal skills and attributions, they won’t meet their full potential or their employer’s needs,” says Business News Daily. Here are a few things you can do when you discover that you have one or more people in the wrong role.

1. Create clear and compelling statements for your mission, vision, and values. This way, all your team members know why they’re coming to work, where you’re all going together, and agree on how they will behave. (For help creating a mission statement, read this.)
2. Establish goals, make a plan with steps to execute those goals, and set up ways to hold people accountable. (If you want to learn how to set SMART goals, click here.)
3. Redefine roles and responsibilities to get the right people in the right roles. Respectfully let people go who are not a culture fit.

Read more.

Additional Information

If you’re unable to view our December 2020 Economic Report or would like additional information, read below:

• The unemployment rate remained 6.7% in December and the number of unemployed persons remained unchanged at 10.7 million. About 4.9 million higher than its February level.

• Total employment decreased by 140,000 in December due to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases and the efforts to contain it.

• Leisure and hospitality lost 498,000 jobs.
  • Food Services & Drinking Places lost 372,000 jobs.
  • Amusements, Gambling, and Recreation lost 92,000 jobs.

• The government lost 45,000 jobs.
• Education and health services lost 31,000 jobs.
  • Private Education lost 63,000 jobs and has been down by 450,000 jobs since February 2020.

• Other services lost 22,000 jobs.
• Information lost 1,000 jobs.
• Utilities lost 400 jobs.
• Mining and logging added 4,000 jobs.
• Financial activities added 12,000 jobs.
• Wholesale trade added 25,100 jobs.
• Manufacturing added 38,000 jobs.
• Transportation and warehousing added 46,600 jobs.
• Construction added 51,000 jobs.
• Retail trade added 120,500 jobs.
• Professional and business services added 161,000 jobs.
  • Temporary Help Services added +68,000 jobs.

• Average hourly earnings for all employees rose by 23¢ to $29.81.

Note: Data below represents changes from different months.

• Job openings rose 2.34% in October to 6.7 million openings.

• Dow Jones rose 2.7% in December with a high of 30,637.47 points and a low of 29,463.64 points.

• Housing starts rose by 1.24% to 1,547,000 in November.

• Consumer price index rose by 0.2% in November.

• The federal prime rate remained at 3.25% in December after dropping from 4.25% in March.

• Retail inventories rose 0.9% in October to $612 billion.

• Manufacturing hours remained at an average of 40.2 hours in December.

• Manufacturing new orders rose by 1% to $487 billion in November.

The information for this report was developed using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, Yahoo Finance, and FedPrimeRate.com.