The US added 227,000 jobs in November, yet the unemployment rate remained at 4.2

The labor market was slightly healthier than expected in November, according to the monthly  jobs report released Friday  morning. The U.S. economy added more than 200,000  jobs in the month, while the unemployment rate remained at 3.7%.

Key facts

• Nonfarm payrolls  rose by 227,000 last month, the Labor  Department said, beating economists' consensus  forecast of 214,000 jobs added, according to Dow  Jones.
• That was an improvement from the  weak 46-month job  gain of 12,000  previously reported in October, a  data point that many economists noted was negatively skewed by extreme weather  events.
• The unemployment rate was 4.2% in November, the government said, matching  expectations of  4.2%.

• The Labor Department revised  up September and October payrolls by 32,000 and 24,000, respectively, meaning job growth was 56,000 more than  it reported  in those  months.

Surprising fact
November marked the sixth  consecutive month of  unemployment above 4%, with the  unemployment rate  remaining above that  mark after  falling below 4% from February 2022 to April  2024, when unemployment  hit its lowest level in five decades. French
$35.61. That's the average hourly  wage for all private nonfarm  payroll workers in the  United States, a new  record. Average  wages have risen 4% over the  past 12 months,  faster than the annual inflation rate  of less than 3% on both measures,  although inflation has  consistently outpaced wage  growth over the  past 12 months.

After the July jobs report briefly  caused panic  on Wall Street as unemployment unexpectedly  rose to 4.3%,  prompting a recession, concerns about the health of the labor market have  eased in recent months. Secondary reports  released earlier this week sent mixed signals,  with the  private ADP  jobs report  showing weaker-than-expected job growth and weekly jobless claims  reaching an all-time high in six weeks, while job openings  were more numerous than economists  had expected. After a  mini-dip in early August  on labor market fears, stocks have  hit all-time highs, with the benchmark  S&P 500  index gaining more than 15% from its August  lows.