Unemployment Numbers Rise as Hiring Slows

Employers added only 39,000 jobs last month ? a big decline from October’s 172,000. Private companies created the fewest number since January. The anemic month for the labor sector pushes the national unemployment rate from 9.6 to 9.8 percent. That’s 19 months of a rate over 9 percent, the longest stretch on record. What do the new numbers mean for the economy?

For more on this breaking news we’re joined now by Charlie Herman, WNYC’s and The Takeaway’s economics editor, and Kelly Evans, economics reporter for the Wall Street Journal.