OKLAHOMA CITY – Contrary to the forecasts of “experts,” U.S. job growth accelerated in December and the national unemployment rate dropped, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Friday.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 256,000 jobs last month, following a revised 212,000 jobs in November, the DOL reported.
Some economists had predicted the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics would report a net gain of 155,000 nonfarm jobs in December. Goldman Sachs estimated that payroll growth would come in at 125,000 and the unemployment rate would inch up to 4.3%.
Instead, the national unemployment rate inched downward, DOL said: from 4.2% to 4.1%.
In comparison, Oklahoma’s jobless rate stood at 3.3%, Federal Reserve Economic Data reflected.
First-time claims for unemployment benefits in the Sooner State during the final week of December totaled 1,191, which was 356 fewer than the week before, according to the Labor Department. Continuing claims for the file week ending Dec. 28 totaled 9,726, an increase of 251 from the previous week, DOL reported.
Initial unemployment claims in Oklahoma numbered an average of 1,292 per week during the last six months of 2024, Oklahoma Employment Security Commission records reflect.
Through November, the U.S. economy added approximately 180,000 jobs per month. The unemployment rate bumped higher but still remained near historic lows. The job numbers indicate the U.S. economy is resilient and still growing, and is still heading toward a “soft landing” of reining in inflation without sinking into a recession.
From January through November, private health care and social assistance accounted for 75% of overall job gains: 41% in health care, 21% in government and 13% in leisure and hospitality, an examination of Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows.
Last year was highlighted by “a very stable labor market where supply and demand were in balance for the first time, post-pandemic,” Nela Richardson, chief economist at payroll company ADP, told CNN last Wednesday.
Hiring slowed somewhat in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s hefty hikes in interest rates in 2022 and 2023 as a means of tamping the brakes on inflation.
Employers are still uncertain about the direction of the economy, global events, and President-elect Donald Trump’s potential policies as indicated by his statements about stiff tariffs, mass deportations, and plans to “cut the government down to size.”