U.S. non-farm employers added 156,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department said Friday in the last monthly employment report of the Obama administration. That number fell below expectations — economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast 180,000 new jobs — and the average growth for the previous 11 months, but rounded out the sixth straight year of employment gains of more than 2 million jobs. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.7 percent from 4.6 percent. Average hourly wages rose by 0.4 percent, slightly more than expected. That pushed year-to-year wage gains to 2.9 percent, the biggest jump since the end of the recession in 2009.
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.
-
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
-
What is the job market's future after Trump's tariffs?Talking Points Economic analysts are split on what the tariffs could mean for employees
-
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
