Breaking: December Jobs Numbers Crush Expectations
The U.S. economy added over 270,000 jobs in December, smashing estimates by nearly 100,000.
ADP/Moody’s Analytics survey released on Thursday found the private sector’s new positions increased by 271,000, greatly exceeding the prediction of 178,000 based on a survey of economists by Reuters.
CNBC reported December’s survey results are the best since February 2017, which saw 280,000 jobs added.
The 271,000 figure is also marked gain from November, with 157,000 new jobs.
“Businesses continue to add aggressively to their payrolls despite the stock market slump and the trade war. Favorable December weather also helped lift the job market,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said in a statement.
“At the current pace of job growth, low unemployment will get even lower,” he added.
Fox Business Network’s Charles Payne tweeted, “Monster Jobs Report … this is huge news for the economy.”
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Monster Jobs Report
ADP reports 271,000 jobs for December almost 100,000 more than Wall Street consensus. We get the government number tomorrow which could be different but this is huge news about the economy. pic.twitter.com/gu8jCVAuHb— Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) January 3, 2019
According to CNBC, “Professional and business services led the way with 66,000 new positions, education and health services contributed 61,000 and leisure and hospitality added 39,000.”
Meanwhile, construction jobs grew by 37,000 and manufacturing added 12,000.
While the jobs numbers were strong, layoffs also rose in December by 35.3 percent to 43,884, based on numbers put together by the employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday the unemployment rates were lower in November than a year earlier in 290 of 388 metropolitan areas, and a total of 104 areas had jobless rates of less than 3 percent.
Nationwide unemployment rate stood at 3.5 percent in November, down from 3.9 percent the previous year.
The lowest unemployment rate for the month was in Ames, Iowa at 1.2 percent, while the highest was in El Centro, California at 18.1 percent.
In 2018 overall, the U.S. economy had its strongest annual growth in over a decade, with the Gross Domestic Product likely topping 3 percent, while the nation experienced its lowest unemployment rate in nearly 50 years.
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