Some folks say the economy is bad, but data released by the Department of Labor Statistics today shows the U.S. economy added 216,000 new jobs in December, well above economists’ expectations. It was the 36th consecutive month of gains. The unemployment rate, which remained steady at 3.7%, has been below 4% for 23 consecutive months. https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1743282483825668266 From The New York Times:
Altogether, the U.S. economy added roughly 2.7 million jobs over the past year. That’s a smaller gain than in 2021 or 2022, during the economy’s initial resurgence from pandemic lockdowns. Yet the gains of 2023 are still stronger than those in the late 2010s.
Average hourly earnings for workers — a common measure of wage gains — rose 0.4 percent from the previous month and were up 4.1 percent from December 2022, an unexpectedly strong increase that may help improve worker sentiment if inflation continues to ease.
Layoffs remain near record lows, beneath pre-pandemic levels.
Based on the latest data, we now know more jobs were created in 2023 than in any year of Trump's presidency.
What's more, the unemployment rate has been below 4% for 23 consecutive months — a streak unseen since the 1960s. https://t.co/Z02e1lhZ5y
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen) January 5, 2024
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