Because the economy showed strong hiring in November, Hicks believes it is strongly possible likely the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates from record lows later this month.
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The unemployment rate remained 5 percent for the second straight month as more Americans entered the workforce to look for jobs. More Americans began looking for jobs in November, and most found them.
Manufacturing employment, meanwhile, slipped by 1,000 and jobs in mining and logging, which has been hit by the slump in oil investment, fell by 11,000.
The gain of 211,000 in November shows the consistency of this year in jobs gains as the average for all of 2015 is 210,000.
The healthy jobs figures indicate that consumer spending is helping the economy surmount some lingering challenges.
The November jobs report is scheduled for release today, providing a last key bit of economic data for the Fed before a policy meeting on December 15-16 that may see the first U.S. interest rate increase in a decade.
A surprisingly strong October report has already fueled expectations for a December rate hike.
The Labor Department said Friday that employers added 211,000 jobs, led by big gains in construction and retail. Spending on construction projects, including homes, roads and office towers, reached an eight-year high in October.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 369.96, or 2.1 percent, to 17,847.63.
“Raising rates this year will… serve to reduce monetary policy uncertainty and to keep the economy on track for sustained growth with price stability”, added Harker, who does not gain a vote on the central bank’s policy-setting committee until 2017 under a Fed rotation.
Employment numbers are one of the leading factors the Fed is taking into consideration while weighing whether the economy is stable enough to hike rates for the first time since the financial crisis.
Average hourly earnings for workers in the private sector increased by 4 cents an hour to $25.25 last month, after an increase of 9 cents an hour for October. The annual growth rate in AHE is by nature volatile so the decline should, not be over-interpreted and it is worth noting that the trend has been upward this year.
The Commerce Department said yesterday the trade gap rose 3.4pc to $43.9 billion, a sign that the worst of the drag from a stronger dollar was far from over. If more people are working it should be harder for employers to fill positions, forcing them to raise wages to fill empty jobs. And layoffs are at very low levels.
Pay gains last month were modest. Or, rather, nobody saw this coming a few years ago.
“This time, I felt like I could be a more picky”, said Raminhos, 29.
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In November, 60.5% of industries reported higher employment, the largest share since February and up from September’s five-year low of 54.2%.
