Jobs kept on truckin’ in December.
The labor market added 216,000 jobs in the month of December, up from 173,000 the previous month, surprising Wall Street once again to close out 2023.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday showed the unemployment rate was 3.7% for the month, flat from the rate seen in November. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the unemployment rate to tick higher to 3.8%.
Wages, a closely watched indicator for inflation and a gauge of how much leverage workers have in the labor market, increased 0.4% on a monthly basis and 4.1% over last year; economists had expected wages to rise 0.3% over last month and 3.9% over last year.
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