- U.S Economy Creates 228,000 Jobs in November
U.S. economy continued to create jobs despite labor market nearing full employment.
The U.S. economy created 228,000 jobs in November, according to the Labor Department. This more than the 200,000 expected by economists and lower than the 261,000 jobs created in October.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged at almost 17-year low of 4.1 percent, while wage growth rose just 0.2 percent month-on-month and 2.5 percent year-on-year.
“The annual growth rate of average hourly earnings was a very pedestrian 2.5% in November. We expect an acceleration above 3% next year,” said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics.
However, some economists believe that continuous job creation will eventually boost wage growth, especially with the hiring getting harder.
According to Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, “If unemployment continues to fall, wage growth will rise.”
Michael Big, who runs a small general contractor in the Chicago area, said “Unfortunately we don’t have the labor to take all the projects that are coming in. We’re all grumbling and complaining about the same thing, when we’re not poaching guys from each other.”