Labor Department reports 210,000 new jobs created in November, far below expectations

The Labor Department on Friday reported the U.S. economy in November created 210,000 new jobs, falling significantly short of a projected gain of at least 550,000 jobs.

The Dow Jones estimate was 573,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs. 

Despite the lower-than-expected jobs number, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.2% from 4.6%, amid expectations the November figure would be 4.5%, according to CNBC.

The department's Bureau of Labor Statistics also reports the number of unemployed persons fell by 542,000 to 6.9 million and that number along with the new jobless number "are down considerably from their highs at the end of the February-April 2020 recession.

"However, they remain above their levels prior to the COVID-19 pandemic ( 5.7 million and 3.5 percent, respectively, in February 2020)."