Number of new jobs in the U.S. increased by 263,000 in November

In the previous month, 263,000 new jobs were added in the U.S., although this number was expected to decrease to 200,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remained stable at 3.7%, which is generally in line with economists’ forecasts. 

Besides the hiring, the level of average hourly earnings increased as well. It rose by 0.6% compared to October and by 5.1% year-on-year. These numbers diverged from the economists’ forecasts again. The increase of an hourly payment was expected to slow down after rising by 0.5% month-on-month and 4.9% year-on-year in October.

Although November’s job gains are the lowest since April 2021, the labor market is still quite resilient to the Federal Reserve’s (Fed’s) actions. This year, the U.S. central bank has increased interest rates by 3.75% in order to cool demand and beat inflation. The monetary policy tightening has already negatively affected some areas of the economy, however, it hasn’t had the planned impact on the labor market.

Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management, noted that strong employment data are the main obstacle to the Fed. The central bank is aimed at reducing the pace of wage growth and the number of available jobs to slow down the economy. But despite aggressive interest rate hikes, the labor market remained stable.