US adds a strong 256,000 jobs in December as unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%
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Getting a clear view of the U.S. job market hasn’t been easy the past few months. Hurricanes and a big strike at Boeing threw off the October jobs numbers, pushing them down and setting up a payback rebound in November that likely exaggerated the strength of hiring.
The December jobs numbers, out Friday from the Labor Department, are expected to deliver a more accurate reading of where things stand. Most economists expect them to show that hiring is solid but slowing, especially compared to the boom days of 2021-2023. Forecasters surveyed by the data firm FactSet expect that U.S. payrolls grew by 153,000 last month, compared to 227,000 in November and a mere 36,000 in strike- and hurricane-hit October.
Boston College economist Brian Bethune is slightly more optimistic about last month’s hiring. He’s expecting 165,000 to 175,000 new jobs in December – a number, he says, that would be seen by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as striking a Goldilocks balance, not hot enough to inflame worries about inflation, not cold enough to suggest the economy is sputtering. “If we got a number in that range, he’d put his feet up on the desk and probably have a good bourbon,’’ Bethune said.
If the forecasters are right about December hiring, the American economy generated about 2.1 million jobs last year, not bad but down from 3 million in 2023, 4.5 million in 2022 and a record 7.2 million in 2021 as the economy roared back from COVID-19 lockdowns and massive layoffs in 2020. The unemployment rate is forecast to have remained at a low 4.2% in December.
