Economists forecast economy added 181000 jobs

On December 2, the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate has dropped to 4.6%. There was a surge in local government hiring, which could have been driven by the November 8 U.S. election.

Moreover, the analysts suggested that the Federal Reserve Department will raise rates at its next level.

“We still see a lot of discouraged workers”, said Aparna Mathur, an economist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

Overall, economists believe that the job situation should continue to improve going into 2017.

Construction jobs (often a sign of economic growth) are also up for the third straight month, by 19,000 jobs for November (and 59.000 jobs since September – primarily for residential construction work).

“That drag (from the hurricane) should reverse and boost November payrolls by a decent amount, supported by a shift to unusually mild weather across the country in the first half of November”, said Ted Wieseman, an economist at Morgan Stanley in NY. In October, average per hour payout had increased by 11 cents per hour.

Friday’s jobs report showed that employment in the retail industry shrank for the first November in six years.

Even with the tight labor market, today’s news on wages was disappointing. Although these numbers were good, average hourly earnings increases fell to 2.5 percent.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected 180,000 new jobs and a jobless rate of 4.9% in November. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, average hourly earnings declined by 3 cents to $25.89.

Those gains were partially offset by continued weakness in manufacturing. It partly reflects people who are no longer looking for work – they are counted as “not in the labor force” rather than unemployed.

The underemployment rate – which includes part-time workers who’d prefer a full-time position and people who want to work but have given up looking – fell 0.2 percentage point to 9.3 percent. Its decline to 4.6% came in well below the 4.9% estimate, hitting its lowest level since August 2007. That compares with 4.5 million just before the recession.

The company hopes to add 3,000 to its 8,000-person staff by June, when moving season heats up. Numerous counties along the state’s I-95 corridor, where job opportunities in manufacturing are fewer, still have greater than 6 percent unemployment. Numerous new jobs came from the professional and business service sectors: things like accounting, management and computer systems. A survey by payroll processor ADP and Moody’s Analytics released on Tuesday showed that private companies added a net 216,000 positions in November, almost double the month before.

Japan’s gross domestic product increased for a second straight month in October, the Japan Center For Economic Research said in a report on Thursday. Employment in leisure and hospitality rose by 29,000.