No good news today for the US economy

US jobs growth slows again as the pandemic worsens; ongoing fighting blocks humanitarian aid in Ethiopia. Tonight's Sentences was written by Cameron Peters. TOP NEWS New jobs numbers show an economy in dire straits Tom Williams/Getty Images - A dire new jobs report on Friday found that the US added just 245,000 jobs in November — less than half of October’s 610,000 jobs and the worst month since April, when the economy shed millions of jobs. [[WSJ / Sarah Chaney Cambon](] - That number is bad news in its own right, but economists warn that there could be worse to come with the pandemic surging across the US. Next month, the US could again lose jobs for the first time since April. [[Washington Post / Eli Rosenberg](] - And though the Labor Department report shows unemployment declining — it fell from 6.9 percent to 6.7 percent — there’s an unhappy explanation for that too. Adults are simply leaving the labor force, which means they are neither employed nor actively seeking employment. [[NYT / Neil Irwin](] - All told, the US economy has recovered only a bit more than half of the jobs lost in March and April. According to NPR, employment levels are still 9.8 million jobs shy of pre-Covid levels. [[NPR / Scott Horsley](] - Some experts have pointed to Friday’s numbers as evidence that the country needs another round of stimulus from Congress, particularly with more jobless benefits set to expire this month. [[CNBC / Patti Domm](] - A federal eviction moratorium and student loan freeze will also run out at the end of December, deepening an already severe crisis for many Americans. Other measures, such as a $600 per week expanded unemployment benefit, expired unrenewed months ago. [[Vox / Anna North](] - In a statement Friday, President-elect Joe Biden reiterated his call for Congress to act, writing that “this is a grim jobs report” that requires “urgent action. Americans need help and they need it now.” [[Transition 46](] - And help may be coming: A new $908 billion Covid-19 relief package with bipartisan support gained traction on the Hill this week. Any bill that emerges from negotiations could be appended to an upcoming omnibus spending measure. [[Politico / Caitlin Emma and Heather Caygle](] [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( A mounting humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia - In northern Ethiopia Friday, much-needed humanitarian aid is reportedly still unable to enter the country amid ongoing fighting and despite a Wednesday agreement between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the United Nations. [[France 24 / AFP](] - Federal troops captured the Tigrayan capital of Mekele from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front last weekend, but TPLF forces are said to still be resisting. Due to a communications blackout, relatively little information is available. [[Reuters](] - According to the UN, though, more than 47,000 people have fled the conflict into neighboring Sudan, and many more remain displaced within Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, including a large number of Eritrean refugees. [[Washington Post / Max Bearak](] - Those refugees — nearly 100,00 people in total — have been without help for more than a month now because of the conflict, the UN said earlier this week, and food is beginning to run out. [[AP / Cara Anna](] - But the fighting means that aid will likely not arrive until next week at the earliest, and there’s no clear end to the conflict in sight: One TPLF leader told the BBC that “people have no appetite whatsoever to countenance the invading forces.” [[BBC](] MISCELLANEOUS [The House passed a historic bill to decriminalize marijuana on Friday, though its prospects in the Senate are dim.]( [[NYT / Catie Edmondson](] - In new guidance published Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are now urging “universal face mask use.” [[Washington Post](] - The GOP is going to war with itself as some far-right figures urge Republican voters to boycott the Georgia Senate runoffs. [[Politico / Marc Caputo](] - The UK will begin administering Covid-19 vaccines on Tuesday. [[NPR / Bill Chappell](] - “A beautifully inexplicable phenomenon”: Strange monoliths are popping up left and right. [[Vox / Constance Grady](] [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( CROSSWORD OF THE DAY [Can you solve today's crossword?]( What's a nine-letter word for particles that may be created through beta decay? [Solve today's new Vox crossword puzzle](, and stay tuned for more puzzles coming out Monday through Saturday. VERBATIM “It’s a sort of gritty feeling in my body, a woolly feeling in my brain. My breathing is up and down; when I'm tired, I forget words midsentence. I need at least 10 hours of sleep most nights. And if I push too hard, it’s not just laborious — it’s actually painful." [[BuzzFeed reporter Nidhi Prakash, 33, on living with long-term Covid-19 symptoms / BuzzFeed](] WATCH THIS [Why the US waits so long to swear in the new president]( Does it really have to take two and a half months? [[YouTube / Madeline Marshall and Jen Kirby](] [Read more from Vox](#) [The pandemic was great for Zoom. 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