A strong showing by the labor market was the last requirement for a planned interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, the first in almost a decade.
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Economists had forecast that Friday’s report would show that 200,000 more jobs were added last month and that the unemployment rate remained at 5 percent, according to data firm FactSet.
There were revisions: September was revised up by 12,000 to 145,000; October’s strong report was from 271,000 to 298,000.
“Health care employment increased by 24,000 over the month, following a large gain in October (+51,000)”. The jobs gains exceeded expectations. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was little changed at 2.31 percent, and stock index futures were up about 0.5 percent in pre-market trading, roughly the same as before the report was released.
There were concerns that job growth was slowing over the summer, but October was the best month of job gains this year, and Friday’s news keeps the momentum going.
The nation has now added 2.3 million jobs this year, an average of 209,000 per month.
The US added 211,000 jobs in November, the Labor Department said Friday.
“Prior to this data, the markets had been pricing in a high 70 per cent likelihood of a rise which will no doubt increase more now”.
The report is the final key piece of the puzzle for Fed officials, who have made a strong case in recent weeks for raising interest rates at their December meeting from near-zero, where they have been pinned since the recession.
But the labor force participation rate – a measure of the number of people who are employed or are seeking employment – remains at a 38-year low.
She also said the USA economy was ripe for a long-awaited hike in the Fed’s benchmark interest rate.
Not including the farm sector, the number of new jobs created rose by 211,000 in November.
Employee pay increased at a steady pace last month.
The healthy job figures indicate that consumer spending is helping the economy surmount some lingering challenges. More Americans began looking for jobs in November, and most found them.
This week, Fed chair Janet Yellen said the economy appeared to be improving enough to justify a rate hike as long as no major shocks undermined growth before the Fed meets December 15 and 16.
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JPMorgan Chase & Co analysts think that the feds’ approach may require for the central bank to raise the rate several times next year, which may be even more than both the Street and Fed analysts expect.
