US gained 199k jobs in November, jobless rate falls on December 8, 2023 at 1:32 pm Business News | The Hill

The U.S. economy added 199,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent, according to data released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The November jobs report came in above expectations, with economists projecting the U.S. would add 180,000 jobs and the jobless rate would hold steady at 3.9 percent.

The latest jobs numbers come ahead of the Federal Reserve’s final meeting of the year next week. The central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at a range of 5.25 percent to 5.5 percent after keeping rates flat at its last two consecutive meetings.

The Fed repeatedly raised rates throughout much of 2022 and 2023 in an effort to tame stubborn inflation that peaked at 9.1 percent last summer. Inflation has since fallen to 3.2 percent as of October but remains well above the central bank’s target of 2 percent.

In spite of widespread predictions last year that the U.S. economy would soon tip into a recession, it has remained surprisingly resilient. The economy has grown at an annualized rate of at least 2 percent every quarter for the last five quarters, and unemployment has remained below 4 percent despite rising interest rates.

However, consumers are not near as optimistic about the state of the economy as experts. Nearly six in 10 Americans said in a recent Bankrate survey that they feel the U.S. is currently in a recession, with little variation across different generations and income levels.

Negative views on the economy could spell trouble for President Biden in the lead up to next year’s election, especially as he campaigns on his administration’s economic policies under the “Bidenomics” slogan.

​Business, Bidenomics, Economy, federal reserve, inflation, Interest rates, Jobs, Jobs Report The U.S. economy added 199,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent, according to data released by the Labor Department on Friday. The November jobs report came in above expectations, with economists projecting the U.S. would add 180,000 jobs and the jobless rate would hold steady at 3.9 percent. The latest…