Jobs report: U.S. economy adds 145,000 jobs in December, unemployment rate holds at 3.5%

The latest jobs report included downward revisions to both October and November’s payroll gains. New jobs in October totaled 152,000, down 4,000 from the previous estimate. And payrolls in November were revised down by 10,000 to 256,000.

Ahead of the report, most economists expected that payrolls gains would decrease in December after surging in November, when General Motors (GM) employees striking between September and October returned to work and pushed up results. But the end of the strike only accounted for a net revised 39,300 of November’s payroll gains in motor vehicles and parts industries – meaning underlying job growth in November was still above the one-year trend even aside from the one-time effect.