The U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department revealed Friday, in yet another strong monthly jobs report. The unemployment rate remained at 3.7 percent.
Per The Wall Street Journal, "payrolls grew in leisure and hospitality, healthcare, and government," while retail and transportation/warehousing companies slashed roles "in a sign of weak holiday hiring."
Economists had been expecting an increase of 200,000 jobs and an unchanged jobless rate, CNBC notes. But in a jump that's unlikely to ease the Federal Reserve's aggressive anti-inflation campaign, average hourly earnings rose 0.6 percent "for the month, double the Dow Jones estimate," while wages climbed a higher-than-expected 5.1 percent year-over-year, CNBC writes.
Overall, Friday's report depicts an "incredibly resilient labor market," bolstering hopes that policymakers can cool red-hot jobs numbers without triggering a rise in unemployment, adds The Washington Post. "We're obviously in a moment of tremendous risk in the economy right now," said economist Adam Ozimek. "You can't rule out a recession, but the economy seems to be rebalancing toward sustainable growth."
But, added former Obama administration economic adviser Jason Furman: "You probably want to revise your views on inflation and it's overall dynamic more based on today's jobs report than any other data report this entire year. And not in a favorable direction."
The November report arrives just days after Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled the central bank might opt for a smaller-than-usual rate hike in December, which sent U.S. stocks soaring. Markets then fell on Friday.