US added 292000 jobs last month; jobless rate at 5%

For all of 2015, the US added 2.7 million jobs, down from 2014's 3.1 million. Despite the strong job creation throughout 2015, the percentage of Americans with jobs or seeking employment remained near a 40-year low in November, at 62.5%.

William C. Dunkelberg, chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business, also was gloomy about USA employment prospects.

"More jobs and stronger wage growth would provide a strong tailwind for consumer spending, which has been the economy's principal source of growth", said Zandi. Average hourly earnings have risen just 2.5% over the past year.

Still, hiring trends look solid against the backdrop of global turbulence.

Moreover, initial estimates for job growth for November and October were revised upward 50,000 to a total of 559,000. October's was upgraded to 307,000 from 298,000, and November's, to 252,000 from 211,000.

This month the economy added 292,000 total non-farm (TNF) jobs, slightly above the 221,000 monthly average for 2015.

"People are finding jobs and getting paid more for them", she said.

Still, the economy added a healthy average of 225,000 jobs a month in 2015.

The jobs report was not enough to prop up the stock market, which had another bad day because of worries about China and collapsing oil prices. Steady hiring and unemployment supports that view.

Whether economic growth this year is modest or exceeds expectations may come down to the degree of wage growth.

While the labour market's resilience could spur Fed policymakers to hike rates in March, some economists said low inflation and the recent turmoil in financial markets could still stay their hand.

"The economy is reflected most strongly in the jobs numbers - and it's doing OK, maybe better than OK", said David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide Insurance.

Economic output in the third quarter advanced 2.1% from a year earlier-about the same lackluster pace averaged throughout the expansion's first 6½ years.

Hiring in the manufacturing industry, another well-paying sector, also improved last month.

Oil prices fell to almost a 12-year low Thursday, as markets anticipated that China will use less oil. Large businesses gained 97,000 jobs, including 39,000 in businesses with 500-999 employees and 58,000 in businesses with 1,000 employees or more. On the year, the construction industry added 263,000 jobs, compared with a gain of 338,000 in 2014. The number of discouraged workers, those who gave up looking for work, was 663,000, little changed from a year ago. That could suggest that warmer weather kept building sites operating in more of the country. Temporary help had a gain of 34,400 jobs last month and government payrolls rose 17,000. Mining employment continued to decline.

USA manufacturers added 8,000 jobs in December.

For the year, for hire trucking added 19,100 jobs.

The labor force expanded in December. The unemployment rate held steady in December at 5 percent, and both the size of the workforce and the participation rate rose last month. This compares to an employment rate of 33.5 percent last December.

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