November saw a drop in the unemployment rate from 3.9% to 3.7%|@Fort George Meade|CC BY 2.0
November witnessed a robust addition of 199,000 jobs in the US, signaling a potential “soft landing” in the upcoming year.
The Labor Department’s Friday report unveiled a drop in the unemployment rate to 3.7% from the previous 3.9%.
It also revealed a 0.4% increase in average hourly earnings, reflecting a resilient job market despite federal rate hikes.
Notably, healthcare and government contributed the most to the employment surge, adding 77,000 and 49,000 jobs, respectively.
Sectors such as construction, manufacturing and retail saw limited growth or declines last month.
Look out
Despite the inflation cooling down, the Federal Reserve is expected to maintain current interest rates during their last meeting of 2023, happening next week.
However, economists are optimistic that December numbers may lower the rate hikes of early 2024.