The U.S. economy added 211,000 jobs in November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, in line with economists' expectations. The economy gained another 35,000 jobs through revisions to September and October's estimates. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5 percent.
The labor force participation rate, at 62.5 percent, was a hair higher than in October; another good sign, since the rate fell for much of the time since the 2008 collapse and only recently leveled out. Wages grew by 2.3 percent, which was a retreat after October's 2.5 percent, and not much higher than the flat 2 percent trend since the Great Recession.
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