U.S. December Employment Figures Miss Target
The disappointing performance marks a slight decline from November's revised figure of 56,000 new positions, signaling persistent weakness in the nation's labor market momentum.
"Employment continued to trend up in food services and drinking places, health care, and social assistance. Retail trade lost jobs," the department said.
Despite sluggish job creation, unemployment unexpectedly improved, dropping to 4.4% from the prior month's 4.5%—beating economist forecasts and suggesting tightening labor market conditions.
December saw approximately 7.5 million Americans classified as jobless, a figure the Labor Department characterized as showing minimal movement. Labor force participation held steady at 62.4%, while the employment-to-population metric remained unchanged at 59.7% during the final month of the year.
Roughly 6.2 million individuals who desired employment remained outside the workforce in December, experiencing virtually no change from previous levels.
"These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job," it said.
Wage growth provided a brighter spot: average hourly compensation for non-farm workers climbed 0.3% month-over-month to $37.02 in December, representing a robust 3.8% annual increase.
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