Headline Roundup • January 5th, 2024
US Economy Added 216,000 Jobs in December
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The U.S. economy added 216,000 jobs in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Details: Economists expected between 160,000-170,000 jobs added. The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7%. Sectors that added the most jobs included government employment (52,000 added), health care (38,000), and social assistance (21,000). The labor force participation rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 62.5%.
How the Media Covered It: Sources across the spectrum covered the report similarly and as a top story on Friday. Fox Business (Lean Right bias) said the data shows how the "labor market remains resilient even in the face of higher interest rates, stubborn inflation and other economic uncertainties." CNN Buisness (Lean Left) said the data capped off "a year of resilience in the labor market."
Featured Coverage of this Story
Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg/Getty Images
The US economy added 216,000 jobs in December, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday, blowing past expectations and capping off a year of resilience in the labor market.
The unemployment rate remained at 3.7%.
Economists were expecting net job gains of 160,000 for December and for the unemployment rate to tick up to 3.8%.
The U.S. labor market closed out 2023 in strong shape as the pace of hiring was even more powerful than expected, the Labor Department reported Friday.
December’s jobs report showed employers added 216,000 jobs for the month while the unemployment rate held at 3.7%. Payroll growth showed a sizeable gain from November’s downwardly revised 173,000. October also was revised lower, to 105,000 from 150,000, indicating a slightly less robust picture for growth in the fourth quarter.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for payrolls to increase 170,000 and the unemployment...
U.S. job growth continued to chug along at a healthy pace in December, suggesting that the labor market remains resilient even in the face of higher interest rates, stubborn inflation and other economic uncertainties.
Employers added 216,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department said in its monthly payroll report released Friday. That was slightly above the 170,000 jobs forecast by Refinitiv economists.
The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%.
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