U.S. Employment Jumps By 216,000 Jobs In December, Much More Than Expected
January 05 2024 - 5:04AM
RTTF2
A closely watched report released by the Labor Department on
Friday showed employment in the U.S. jumped by much more than
expected in the month of December.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment surged by
216,000 jobs in December compared to economist estimates for an
increase of about 170,000 jobs.
At the same time, the report also showed notable downward
revisions to the pace of job growth in October and November.
The increases in employment in October and November were
downwardly revised to 105,000 jobs and 173,000 jobs, respectively,
reflecting a net downward revision of 71,000 jobs.
"A bigger-than-expected rise in December payrolls offset by a
big downward revision to October and November suggests a pretty
ho-hum report on balance," said FHN Financial Chris Low.
"There's no recession threat in this report, nor any reason for
the Fed to worry about overheating," he added. "It is as safely
down the middle as they come."
The stronger than expected job growth in December came as
employment continued to trend up in the government, healthcare,
social assistance, and construction sectors, while the
transportation and warehousing sector lost jobs.
Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate came in at 3.7
percent in December, unchanged from November. Economists had
expected the unemployment rate to inch up to 3.8 percent.
The unemployment rate came in unchanged as the household survey
measure of employment plunged by 683,000 persons, while the labor
force shrank by 676,000 persons.
The report also said average hourly employee earnings climbed by
$0.15 or 0.4 percent to $34.27 in December.
The annual rate of wage growth crept up to 4.1 percent in
December from 4.0 percent in November, while economists had
expected the pace of growth to slow to 3.9 percent.
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