Payrolls rise solidly; jobless rate at nine-year low

“When you drill down into the data [for] more educated workers, you see an unemployment rate that’s pretty nice, and in recovery mode”, said Beth Ann Bovino, U.S. chief economist at S&P Global. That’s why unemployment is down, too – because so many people aren’t even being counted any longer.

November was the 74th consecutive month America added jobs.

The drop lowered the year-on-year gain in wages to 2.5 per cent in November from October’s 2.8 per cent increase, which was the largest rise in almost 7-1/2 years. Still, the figure was up a solid 2.5 percent for the 12 months ended November 30, above the rate of inflation. Friday’s jobs report is expected to cement the expectation for another rate hike at the Fed’s December meeting. The remaining 1.3 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in November had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.

“The headline numbers here are okay but the underlying numbers are less rosy”, Steve Chiavarone, portfolio manager at Federated Investors, told CNN Money. Over the past 12 months, the sector has added 407,000 jobs, some of which will probably drive demand for former retail space, as new clinics and other care facilities open in smaller, community-oriented locations.

Friday’s unemployment report was the first since the November 8 presidential election, in which Republican nominee Donald Trump surprised Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Since last January, the State of Maryland has added 72,000 jobs in a variety of trades, and now that it’s the holiday season, some businesses are seeing a correlation. “His determination to save 1,000 Carrier manufacturing jobs in IN announced this week is just a preview of his agenda of prosperity for all”.

Trump surged to an electoral victory largely because of the support of white, working-class voters fearful of job losses, especially in blue-collar industries like manufacturing and mining. More than 250,000 jobs will be lost this year due to plant closing announcements, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas.

US employers likely boosted hiring in November amid growing confidence in the economy, making it nearly certain that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates later this month.

Surveys of consumer confidence have taken on more importance in recent weeks – a trend likely to continue in the coming months – following the unexpected election outcome.

“We’ve become accustomed to a positive non-farm payroll report being the starting pistol for a sprint towards an interest rate hike but, regardless of today’s data, the Fed was already out of the starting blocks”.