America’s employers slowed the pace of hiring in November, adding 210,000 jobs, the lowest monthly gain in nearly a year.

But Friday’s report from the Labor Department also showed that the nation’s unemployment rate tumbled from 4.6% to 4.2%, evidence that many more people reported that they had a job. That is a historically low jobless rate though still above the pre-pandemic level of 3.5%

A mostly white jury is nearly set for the trial of Kim Potter, the Minneapolis police officer charged in Daunte Wright’s death, as only two alternates remain to be chosen before opening statements next week.

Nine of the 12 jurors seated so far are white, with one juror identifying as Black and two as Asian. It’s evenly split between men and women.

Several more cases of the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus were reported in the U.S. Thursday, five in the New York City area and one in Minnesota, Hawaii and Colorado. Officials say these reported cases suggest that the variant is spreading within the country.

Lia Piazza can be reached at lia.piazza@stthomas.edu.