Economy added 178000 jobs in November

On the national level, the economy added 178,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate dropped from 4.9 percent in October to 4.6 percent in November.

US employers added a solid 178,000 jobs in November, reflecting the steady economy President-elect Donald Trump will inherit.

Americans will get their first look at the US job market Friday since the victory of President-elect Donald Trump, who campaigned on promises for better jobs.

Wages fall: The story of last month’s jobs report was the big increase in hourly pay, which suggested workers were finally seeing the benefits of the 7-year-old economic recovery.

“I think interest rates are going to stay relatively low for the next couple of years”, Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s pick for treasury secretary, said Wednesday.

“With the unemployment rate this low and wages rising, now is the real test of whether a stronger economy can bring people back into job market”, said Jed Kolko, chief economist at job hunting website Indeed. But weak pay increases and fewer Americans working or looking for work point to longer-term challenges.

The U.S. central bank raised its benchmark overnight interest rate last December for the first time in almost a decade.

A broad measure of unemployment that includes people who want to work but have given up searching and those working part-time because they can not find full-time employment fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 9.3 percent, the lowest level since April 2008.

The solid overall jobs numbers also clear the way for the Federal Reserve to raise its key interest rate on December 14 when its two-day meeting ends.

They are spending more, too.

Trump’s broader message behind the Carrier deal was to increase the number of manufacturing jobs in America.

The latest jobs report also comes on the heels of the November 8 presidential election.

The Northwest Lower Region rose 0.5 percent to 4.3 percent. Wages have risen only about 2.5 percent over the past year – about a percentage point less than is typical in a healthy economy. The job market’s durability will help to some extent.

With the labor force shrinking in October and November, some economists believe that trend largely has played out, keeping the Fed on track to lift rates this month. That might, for example, allow steady wage increases to restore some of the ground lost by workers. But with the labor market nearing full employment and inflation showing signs of firming, another quarter-point move appears likely.

Alberta shed 12,800 positions last month – 13,600 of which were full-time jobs.

Private payrolls added 156,000 in the latest month, with continued gains in construction and health care. The number of unemployed people fell by 387,000 and 160,000 people found jobs.