The national jobs report for November is in. We have added 178,000 new jobs since the election. The unemployment rate has dropped to 4.6 percent, which is the lowest it has been since August 2007.
It was slightly less than the 180,000 jobs forecast for November. Unfortunately, wages are not rising. This is a sign that the economy is still slowly expanding. The Federal Reserve will likely be raising interest rates after this news.
This is the seventy-fourth straight month where we have had positive job growth. Average hourly earnings dropped three cents to $25.89 hour,
From a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
“The civilian labor force participation rate, at 62.7 percent, changed little in November, and the employment-population ratio held at 59.7 percent. These measures have shown little movement in recent months.”
“The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers), at 5.7 million, changed little in November but was down by 416,000 over the year. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.”
Gus Faucher, Deputy Chief Economist with PNC Financial Services Group said:
“The solid November jobs report is the last piece for a Federal Open Market Committee increase of 0.25 percentage point in the federal funds rate on December 14. The economy is close to full employment, and the FOMC wants to start gradually raising interest rates before the economy reaches full employment.”
Unfortunately, this may be beneficial for President-elect Donald Trump. Of course, he can’t take credit for the November jobs report. However, he can use this positive momentum to lead into his presidency.
It will make him look good until he screws it all up.
Donald Trump wants to cut taxes and increase infrastructure spending. The low unemployment rate may be good for that. The Federal Reserve won’t be raising interest rates too quickly.
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