Employers added 312,000 jobs to the US economy in December — nearly double the 178,000 new positions economists had anticipated. The unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent.
Employers added 312,000 jobs to the US economy in December — nearly double the 178,000 new positions economists had expected, according to the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked up from 3.7 percent to 3.9 percent, in part because 142,000 people quit their job and started looking for a new one.
Both figures are a sign that the US economy remains strong despite recent stock market volatility over economic growth worries and a prolonged US trade war with China. The continued hiring boom also suggests that fears of a looming economic recession are largely overblown.
The latest jobs report is (mostly) good news for workers. Such a low unemployment rate means that nearly every American who wants to work, and is able to work, has snagged a job by now. And those who lose their jobs, or decide to leave, won’t have a hard time finding another position. The lingering problem, however, is that US workers haven’t seen their paychecks get much bigger.
