The U.S. labor market ended 2023 on a strong note, the Labor Department reported Friday, as the pace of hiring was even faster than expected.
The December employment report showed that employers added 216,000 jobs in the month, but the unemployment rate remained at 3.7%. Employment growth was a sharp increase from November’s downwardly revised figure of 173,000.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected employment to rise by 170,000 and the unemployment rate to rise to 3.8%.
The report, combined with revisions to last month’s statistics, predicts job growth in 2023 by 2.7 million, or an average of 225,000 per month, down from 4.8 million in 2022, or an average of 399,000 per month. .
The market reacted negatively to the news, with stock market futures falling and US Treasury yields soaring.
The increase in employment was due to an increase of 52,000 people in government jobs and an additional 38,000 jobs in health-related fields such as outpatient medical services and hospitals. Leisure and hospitality increased by 40,000 total, social assistance by 21,000 and construction by 17,000. According to the Labor Department, retail trade has remained roughly flat since the beginning of 2022, with retail trade increasing by 17,000.
On the downside, the transportation and warehousing industry lost 23,000 jobs.
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