By Jeffry Bartash, Market Watch–

The numbers: The economy regained 245,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate declined again, the government said Friday, but hiring also fell to a seven-month low and a record rise in coronavirus cases is making it harder for people to return to work.

The increase in jobs last month fell short of the 432,000 forecast of economists polled by MarketWatch.

In premarket trading, stocks held onto small gains.

Private-sector payrolls rose by a stronger 344,000, but a nearly 100,000 decline in government jobs reduced overall employment gains.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell for the sixth month in a row to 6.7% from 6.9%. Yet the decline mostly reflected 400,000 people dropping out of the labor force because they can’t find work.

Hours worked was unchanged at 34.8 hours. Average hourly pay rose 9 cents to $29.58 an hour.

The increase in hiring in October was revised down by 28,000 to from 610,000. Job gains in September were raised by 39,000 to 711,000.