The Labor Department reported Friday that the U.S. economy added a healthy 178,000 jobs in November, roughly in line with forecasts. Economists surveyed by Reuters had predicted 175,000 new nonfarm jobs; those surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast 180,000. The gains, an improvement over October, nudged the unemployment rate down to 4.6 percent, a nine-year low, as some Americans left the workforce. Consumer spending, inflation, the housing market, and manufacturing have improved recently, too. Together, the brightening data was seen as cementing the likelihood that the Federal Reserve would be able to resume its plan to push interest rates higher. "The economy is in good shape," said Jack McIntyre, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global in Philadelphia. "The Fed has the green light to raise interest rates this month, and most likely they are going to raise a couple of times next year."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Anne Hillerman's 6 favorite books with Native charactersFeature The author recommends works by Ramona Emerson, Craig Johnson, and more
-
How Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral run will change the Democratic PartyTalking Points The candidate poses a challenge to the party's 'dinosaur wing'
-
Book reviews: '1861: The Lost Peace' and 'Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers'Feature How America tried to avoid the Civil War and the link between lead pollution and serial killers
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliablespeed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutinySpeed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress codespeed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirementspeed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
-
Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff displaySpeed Read The president was not happy with reports that Amazon would list the added cost from tariffs alongside product prices
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loomSpeed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panelsSpeed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of businessSpeed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
