The Labor Department said today employers added 211,000 jobs last month, led by big gains in construction and retail. (AP)
Washington:
The US economy pumped out 211,000 new jobs in November, the Labor Department said today, a solid figure that supports the Federal Reserve beginning to raise interest rates this month.
The unemployment rate held at a seven-year low of 5.0 percent, and job creation numbers for the previous two months were revised upward, more indication that the US economy remains strong despite the global slowdown.
There was a broad range of industries where new hiring was strong: construction, retail trade, finance, education and health, business services, and restaurants and hotels.
Even government, long a weak spot in hiring, joined in with 14,000 net new positions.
There were still weaknesses in the report: average wage gains remain slow -- up just 0.16 percent from October -- the ratio of working age people participating in the labor force is still historically very low, and the number of people forced to take part-time jobs increased from the previous month by 319,000.
But overall the report indicated a firming of the jobs market and a resilience in growth that would allow the Fed to begin raising its benchmark federal funds rate after keeping it locked at zero for nearly seven years, economists said.
"Over the past 3 months, the economy has created an average of +218k jobs per months. That's a solid clip. Enough to keep cutting joblessness," said economist Justin Wolfers of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, in a tweet.
The unemployment rate held at a seven-year low of 5.0 percent, and job creation numbers for the previous two months were revised upward, more indication that the US economy remains strong despite the global slowdown.
There was a broad range of industries where new hiring was strong: construction, retail trade, finance, education and health, business services, and restaurants and hotels.
Even government, long a weak spot in hiring, joined in with 14,000 net new positions.
There were still weaknesses in the report: average wage gains remain slow -- up just 0.16 percent from October -- the ratio of working age people participating in the labor force is still historically very low, and the number of people forced to take part-time jobs increased from the previous month by 319,000.
But overall the report indicated a firming of the jobs market and a resilience in growth that would allow the Fed to begin raising its benchmark federal funds rate after keeping it locked at zero for nearly seven years, economists said.
"Over the past 3 months, the economy has created an average of +218k jobs per months. That's a solid clip. Enough to keep cutting joblessness," said economist Justin Wolfers of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, in a tweet.
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