WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy added a solid 211,000 net new jobs in November, the Labor Department said Friday, and although the figure was down significantly from the previous month, it showed labor market growth strong enough to make a Federal Reserve rate hike this month a near certainty.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy added a solid 211,000 net new jobs in November, the Labor Department said Friday, and although the figure was down significantly from the previous month, it showed labor market growth strong enough to make a Federal Reserve rate hike this month a near certainty.
The unemployment rate held steady at 5 percent — its lowest level in more than seven years — and it did so for good reasons. About 273,000 people joined the labor force last month, lifting the closely watched participation rate up a bit to 62.5 percent, though still a historically low level.
Wages continued to move up. Average hourly earnings rose 4 cents to $25.25. That was down from a robust 9-cent gain in October but continued a positive trend. For the 12 months ended Nov. 30, hourly wages are up 2.3 percent, well above the low inflation rate.
“The November report ensures that the Fed will move at the December meeting,” said economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the conservative-leaning American Action Forum think tank.
The Labor Department’s revised job growth for September and October was up by a combined 35,000. The revisions put October job growth at 298,000, the best month since last year.
Some of October’s growth was the economy making up for a lackluster August and September, when job growth was well below 200,000 a month.
Economists expected a falloff in November, but the job growth exceeded expectations of about 190,000 net new positions. The unemployment rate was in line with expectations.
Job growth has averaged 218,000 the last three months — and for the 12 months ended Nov. 30, the labor market has added an average of 237,000 net new positions.
Fed Chair Janet L. Yellen told Congress on Thursday that she and other central bank policymakers would analyze the November jobs report “very closely” to determine if the economy is ready for a hike in the benchmark federal funds rate.
But Yellen cautioned that they would not be swayed by any single economic report and instead would look at the jobs data in the context of underlying trends.
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 Dec. 15-16.
That’s about the level that Yellen said Thursday is needed to provide enough jobs for young people just entering the labor market.
“I think the numbers still have been strong enough recently they’re not particularly concerned about one number,” Faucher said. “You don’t want to read too much into one month of data.”