Posted on 01/04/2019 6:03:16 AM PST by ScottinVA
Job creation ended 2018 on a powerful note, with nonfarm payrolls surging by 312,000 in December though the unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent.
The jobless rate, which was last higher in June, rose for the right reason as 419,000 new workers entered the workforce and the labor force participation rate increased to 63.1 percent. The participation level was up 0.2 percentage points from November and 0.4 percentage points compared with a year earlier.
A broader measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons held steady at 7.6 percent.
In addition to the big job gains, wages jumped 3.2 percent from a year ago and 0.4 percent over the previous month. The year-over-year increase is tied with October for the best since April 2009. The average work week rose 0.1 hour to 34.5 hours.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting job growth of just 176,000, though they projected the unemployment rate to fall to 3.6 percent. The wage number also was well above expectations of 3 percent on the year and 0.3 percent from November.
The report, released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, comes amid concern over whether the U.S. economy is part of a global deceleration, despite turning in its best year since the Great Recession.
Data released this week showed a key manufacturing mark hitting a two-year low and mortgage volume at its lowest in 18 years.
The jobs market, however, remains hot.
Payrolls growth totaled 2.6 million in 2018, the highest since 2015 and well above the 2.2 million in 2017.
Health care led the way in new jobs, adding 50,000 for the month thanks to 38,000 new positions in ambulatory services and 7,000 more in hospitals. The industry saw a boom of 346,000 for the year, compared with a 284,000 gain the year before.
Restaurants and bars added 41,000 to the close the year with a 235,000 gain, down from 261,000 in 2017.
Construction also was one of the big gainers despite a slumping housing market. The industry added 38,000 jobs in December, bringing the annual total to 280,000, a 12 percent gain from 2017's 250,000.
Manufacturing also tuned in a solid 32,000 gain for the month, with the bulk of the growth coming from the 19,000 positions added in the key durable goods sector. The sector also saw a surge in 2018, with the 284,000 new positions representing a 37 percent rise from the previous year.
Another closely watched sector, retail, posted growth of 24,000 thanks to a holiday season boost. For the year, retail added 92,000, reversing the loss of 29,000 in 2017.
Government jobs saw a gain of 11,000.
Previous months also saw positive revisions, adding to the upbeat tone for the year. November saw its disappointing 155,000 original report revised up to 176,000, while October's count went from 274,000 to 237,000, for a net gain of 58,000 from the previous tallies.
Those revisions brought the three-month average up to a strong 254,000.
The report comes at a time of heightened market concerns over the Federal Reserve's future path. The U.S. central bank raised interest rates four times in 2018 in an effort to prevent the economy from overheating, but President Donald Trump has criticized the Fed for endangering the economic recovery.
Futures traders expect the Fed to hold steady through the year, and in fact are pricing in a 45 percent of a rate cut by the end of 2019.
November saw its disappointing 155,000 original report revised up to 176,000, while October’s count went from 274,000 to 237,000, for a net gain of 58,000 from the previous tallies.
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Looks like something is stated backwards.
One of the disconnects with stocks is that the interest rates were so extremely artificially low that capital was forced into the market as other investment paths were made worthless.
It may be that an improving economy causes a decrease in the stock markets as money flows out to some of the more traditional alternate investment areas.
In 2009-2010, the Obama Admin offered states what were essentially bounties to sign long-term unemployed up for disability. We went from roughly 7.5 million on disability to 11 million in a little over a year.
Did not realize that, interesting. More damage done from the Obama years.
Pelosi, Schumer: “Oh crap! It’s hard to knock Trump when he’s doing so well.”
Yep. Part of how they lowered the unemployment rate, with fewer jobs.
Interesting. Thanks.
Thank you. Good observations.
Thanks. Yes, good observations.
Yep, nearly twice the expected number of Jobs is “flat”.
If there was a Rat in the White House, NYT top of the fold Headline and every Network News Show would be leading with this.
The Media runs this Country, not by the News they Report but by the News they choose to ignore. They set the agenda.
Volcker will remain my hero because he made my early retirement possible. I made more money during his term than all other FED chairs combined.
The anti-American media is trying to talk the country into a recession to defeat Trump just as they tried to talk it up during Obama to keep him in office.
All Volcker did was a cause a really bad recession. I don’t see how that led to you making more money. If it was by normal means the credit should go to Reagan.
I made a killing by buying utility stocks which were all paying 12%-14% dividends during Carter, then Volcker raised the rates so high, inflation dropped like a punctured balloon because few could afford to buy cars or houses at those double digit interest rates, and all my utility stocks tripled, every one of them! Plus I was still collecting those high dividends! If Volcker keeps interest rates normal, inflation would stay high because people were chasing ever inflating house prices.
You profited from what caused other people misery. No wonder you think Volcker is a hero like the Democrats.
Haha you don’t understand the basic of investing. If you make money in any stock because it went up, the poor schlubb who sold you that stock lost that profit.
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