The US economy added 292,000 jobs in December, exceeding expectations, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 5%, the US Department of Labor announced on Friday.
Related: China closes 2% higher while US job figures beat forecasts – live
This was the last jobs report for 2015. Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected a strong finish for the year, with about 200,000 jobs added in December. The unemployment rate of 5% was at a seven-and-a-half-year low for a third straight month.
Not only did the job creation in December surpass expectations, but the jobs figures from the previous two months were revised up significantly. November figures were revised from 211,000 to 252,000 and October’s from 298,000 to 307,000. Over the past three months, job gains have averaged 284,000 a month. The US economy added 2.65m jobs in 2015.
Additionally, the number of Americans working part-time but wanting full-time jobs went down by 764,000 in 2015, to six million.
Wages remained little changed in December. The US Department of Labor has in the past referred to wages as “the unfinished business of this recovery”. Overall, in 2015, average hourly earnings increased by 2.5%. In order for low-income Americans to feel the impact of the US economic recovery, US wage growth would have to reach 3% to 4% a year.
Earlier this week, figures from payroll company ADP showed that US private sector companies added 257,000 jobs in December. This was the largest gain since December 2014. Furthermore, layoffs in December were the smallest in 15 and half years.
The creation of more than 292,000 jobs in December was “an indication of a relatively strong labor market in 2015, especially compared with the Great Recession and the beginning of the recovery”, said Elise Gould, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. She added that the US economy still had a “way to go before we reach full employment”.
Related: Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates was a 'close call'
The Federal Reserve chair, Janet Yellen, expects the US labor market to continue to improve in the coming year. She predicts that the US will reach reach full employment in 2016 or 2017.
Last month, the Fed raised interest rates for the first time since June 2006 and is expected to raise them again this year. The Fed meets eight times a year. Its first meeting this year is on 26-27 January.
When making the decision to raise interest rates, the Fed is likely to look at the overall state of the US economy. And while the US labor market may have had a strong finish to the year, Friday’s job report came after a brutal week in the US stock market.
Due to the slowdown in China’s economy and trouble in the Middle East, US stock market started the New Year with the worst performance since 2008. By Thursday evening, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 392.41 points, or 2.32%, capping its worst four-day start to a year in more than a century.
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét