USA adds strong 292K jobs last month; jobless rate at 5 pct

Employment in the USA increased by much more than expected in the month of December, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The unemployment rate held at 5 percent. The unemployment rate hasn’t been below that mark since 2007. The economy added an average of 221,000 jobs per month in 2015, and it came on strong at the end.

The Federal Reserve’s decision to tighten in December was also vindicated by news that jobs growth rate for October and November had been revised upwards to the tune of 50,000.

Manufacturers added just 17,000 jobs previous year through November. October’s gain was raised to 307,000 from 298,000, marking the biggest increase of 2015.

The December report marks the US economy’s second-best year of job growth since 1999, adding roughly 210,000 new positions per month.

The U.S. economy closed out 2015 with a huge round of job creation.

Even as demand for workers grew, average hourly pay slipped a penny in December to $25.24 an hour.

Year over year wage increases have held at about 2% in recent months, a solid number but still well below the 3%-4% range economists believe would make a significant impact on inflation. Data for all private-sector workers only dates back to 2009. Steady hiring and unemployment supports that view.

“A meaningful pickup in wage growth is still the missing piece of the puzzle in this recovery”, said Paul Ashworth, economist at Capital Economics.

As it has been for multiple years now, the strong report was a welcome respite for the United States economy after uncertainty in other areas. That’s the fastest pace in nearly a year. That has made United States goods more expensive globally while lowering the price of imported products.

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The bulk of USA employment gains past year occurred in private service industries. Construction added 45,000 jobs, down from 48,000 added in November. That could suggest that warmer weather kept building sites operating in more of the country. They added 73,000 jobs, though nearly half were temporary.

However, one struggling American industry continues to bleed jobs: mining.

“It’s extraordinary to see such rapid jobs growth, and increasingly low unemployment, with no inflationary pressures at all”, said Brookings Institution senior economist Justin Wolfers in a tweet.

Manufacturing added 30,000 jobs previous year, a marked decline from 2014. The two-year period of 2014-2015 marks the best stretch of hiring since the late 1990s.

The labor force expanded in December. It indicates that more people are wading back into the labor market and looking for work.