Employers closed a year that defied economic expectations by adding m💝ore jobs and r🍰aising wages higher than economists were anticipating.

The U.S. economy added 216,000 jobs in December, above 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:November’s 199,000 new jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The number of jobs surged past economists' expectations that employers would hire just 170,000 new workers during the month. It marks another strong month for a labor market that never produced the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:layoffs economists expected in 2023. 

“We got a bit of a shocker to🅘day with the job market showing much more signs of strength, and not cooling at all,” remarked Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance.

The unemployment rate and wage growth also defied expectations. The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7%, where economists e🐷xpected 3.8%. Year-over-year hourly wages ticked higher to 4.1%, beating expectations that it would dip to 3.9%.

The report comes as the most recent Federal Open M♈arkets Committee meeting minutes showed members were still closely following the labor market, creating some uncertai༺nty about the path ahead. Continued strong growth in jobs could make it harder for officials to begin lowering interestꦿ rates. 

“The totality 🎀of the data shows that the job market is still staggeringly strong, especially when you consider the pressure on the economy,” said Callie Cox, U.S. investment analyst at e♊Toro. “But this particular report may not be good enough to please a market that’s obsessed with the idea of rate cuts.”

And while wage growth remains good news for workers, Cox said it could pose problems in the fight against inflation, as this month’s growth was the first time wages increased in the past five months. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Higher wages can drive up the costs of goods✤ and services, a𒅌s employers need to raise prices to cover worker costs.