US adds 211K jobs in November, jobless rate steady at 5 pct

The U.S. economy added 211,000 jobs in November, the country’s Labor Department reported Friday.

“Health care employment increased by 24,000 over the month, following a large gain in October (+51,000)”.

According to the U.S. Labor Department, U.S. payrolls rose in November beyond the Fed’s expectations and hourly earnings should hit 2.6 percent this month.

In the US, investors have been bracing for a rate hike for years and have simply grown tired of the debate about when the Fed should raise interest rates. While it’s good that the economy is creating jobs, the fact higher rates are a practical certainty isn’t great for stocks.

“The Fed says its actions are data-dependent, and this (jobs report) is a piece of data that argues for a rate increase”, Mayland said.

Gus Faucher, senior economist at PNC Financial Services Group, said the solid labor market growth in recent months would mean that November jobs growth would have had to have been below 100,000 to prevent Fed policymakers from hiking the interest rate when they meet December 15-16.

The big gain during October was also revised upward another 18,000 and weaker payroll or September was also revised up another 8,000.

The report classified 1.7 million people as being “marginally attached” to the labor force, or individuals who were “not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months”.

The sizable gain in construction jobs last month, even as the Fed is preparing to raise rates, suggests that few expect higher borrowing costs to derail home building or sales.

The unemployment rate remained at a low 5 percent in November for a second straight month, the government said on Friday. The unemployment rate is 5 percent, down from its 10 percent peak in 2009. Unemployment is low, growth continues at a modest pace, and Ms. Yellen said she is confident inflation will return to the Fed’s target over time.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose almost 200 points in early morning trading Friday, after falling more than 250 points on Thursday.

Sarah Raminhos landed a new accounting job last month at a firm in Chevy Chase, Md., with a salary about 5 percent higher than her previous position.

The jobless rate is in a range many Fed officials see as consistent with full employment in any case.

“The message from November’s jobs is clear: The U.S. labor market is unambiguously strengthening”, Neil Dutta, head of U.S. economics at Renaissance Macro Research, told MarketWatch.