U.S. unemployment rate holds steady at 5 pct. in November

The Labor Department’s revised job growth for September and October was up by a combined 35,000.

The increase in hourly pay over the past 12 months totaled 2.3%, down from 2.5% in the prior month. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 4 basis points to 2.27%, but rose 5 ticks for the week.

This was a robust showing, which likely has guaranteed that Federal Reserve policy makers will increase their interest rates for only the first time for close to one decade, when they meet on December 15 and 16.

This morning’s jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the economy added 211,000 jobs in November-a decent amount, but lower than October’s more solid report, which was revised substantially upward.

“The bottom end of the range of forecasts in Reuters polls on non-farm payroll figures for the coming year has been consistently trimmed lower by analysts over the past few months – just 100,000 jobs per month on average in some quarters of next year”, writes Siddharth Iyer at Reuters’ blog Macroscope.

“We have added more jobs over the past three years than in any three-year period since 2000, and wages are continuing to rise”, Jason Furman, chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, said in a statement.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen twice this week expressed confidence that the U.S. economy is growing strongly enough to justify raising the federal funds rate, which has been stuck at 0-0.25 per cent since December 2008 to support a rebound from the Great Recession.

The strong jobs report followed lackluster retail sales reports in October that suggested a slowdown in consumer spending and economic growth.

The jobs report removes all remaining questions about the Fed’s next move, helping move market discourse from the timing of a lift-off to the pace of future interest rate increases. Policymakers stress that acting now will let the central bank tighten rates very gradually.

The labor force participation rate – the percentage of Americans holding down or seeking a job – is at a historically low level and has fallen steadily for years.

Though wage growth slowed last month, economists say that was mostly payback for October’s outsized gains, which were driven by a calendar quirk. Hospitals added 13,000 jobs in November.

Employment gains in November were broad, though manufacturing remains burdened by a strong dollar and shed 1,000 positions.

A Fed rise could smooth the path for the Bank of England to start hiking United Kingdom interest rates some time over the next year or so.

“Mining and logging lost 11,000 jobs in November”. They include a strong dollar, which has made exports pricier overseas and squeezed USA manufacturers, and sinking oil prices, which have led drilling companies to slash orders for steel pipes and other equipment.