US jobless rate at nine-year low
Date
12/4/2016 1:10:54 AM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula) US employers boosted hiring in November and the unemployment rate dropped to a more than nine-year low of 4.6 percent, making it almost certain that the federal Reserve will raise interest rates later this month.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 178,000 jobs last month after increasing by 142,000 in October, the labor Department said yesterday. The solid employment gains likely reflect growing confidence in the economy, which has been marked by rising consumer spending and inflation.
The unemployment rate fell three-tenths of a percentage point last month, hitting its lowest level since August 2007, because more people found work as well as dropped out of the labor force. The decline in unemployment was concentrated among men.
Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz in Newport Beach, California, described the jobs report as "solid" and said it would further encourage the Fed to hike rates in mid-December.
"Were it not for the less strong wage growth, this report would have also inclined the Fed to be aggressive about the future path of rates given the strong improvement in the unemployment rate and the decline in the participation rate."
Economists had forecast payrolls rising by 175,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate unchanged at 4.9 percent.
A pullback in wage growth after two straight months of solid increases, however, put a wrinkle in the otherwise upbeat employment report. Average hourly earnings fell three cents, or 0.1 percent, after shooting up 0.4 percent in October.
The drop lowered the year-on-year gain in wages to 2.5 percent in November from October's 2.8 percent increase, which was the largest rise in nearly 7-1/2 years. The moderation largely reflected a calendar quirk, which economists expect Fed officials will overlook at their December 13-14 policy meeting.
A broad measure of unemployment that includes people who want to work but have given up searching and those working part-time because they cannot find full-time employment fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 9.3 percent, the lowest level since April 2008.
US Treasury prices extended gains while US stock index futures trimmed losses
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