DECEMBER 9, 2024 – JOBS RISE BY 227,000 IN NOVEMBER
In better-than-expected news, the US economy added 227,000 new jobs in November, and the unemployment rate edged up slightly to 4.2 percent. Following this encouraging report, expectations have risen for the Fed to lower rates at their meeting on December 17-18.
Jobs rebounded from October, when the economy only added 36,000 jobs due to the affects of two hurricanes and a strike at Boeing. The jobs number beat expectations of 217,000 jobs. The unemployment rate moved up slightly, which was anticipated. Hourly earnings were up 0.4 percent from a month ago, and were up 4 percent from a year ago, slightly better than estimated.
While inflation has backed down from 40-year highs, it has been edging upward recently, and though the job market continues to grow, it has been slowed from earlier reports. Fed Chair Powell said last week the Fed can “afford to be a little more cautious as we try and find” a rate that has a neutral effect on growth.