Economists wowed by strong payrolls number : The U.S. added 321,000 new jobs in November to mark the biggest gain in near three years, extending the strongest streak of hiring in several decades. Virtually every industry added employees and many of the new jobs were in fields that pay well. Hiring was also revised up by a combined 44,000 in the prior two months, offering more evidence that the U.S. economy could be gearing up for its best year of growth in 2015 since the end of the Great Recession. The nation’s unemployment rate, meanwhile, held steady at a six-year low of 5.8%, the Labor Department reported Friday. The economy has now added at least 200,000 jobs for 10 straight months, the longest such stretch in more than 30 years. Already the U.S. has generated 2.65 million new jobs in 2014, the biggest increase since a 3.2 million gain in 1999. In a good sign, though, the average hourly wage of American workers rose a strong 0.4% in November to $24.66 after two weak readings in a row. Still, wages are only up 2.1% in the past 12 months, a rate that’s barely changed since the recovery began in mid-2009.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 15:12:41 +0000
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