Job Growth Cools in December

U.S. hiring cooled in December to the lowest pace in two years, but the labor market remained resilient in the face of higher interest rates, scorching-hot inflation and mounting recession fears.

Employers added 223,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department said in its monthly payroll report released Friday, topping the 200,000 jobs forecast by Refinitiv economists. Still, it marks a slight deceleration from the downwardly revised job gain of 256,000 recorded in November and is the worst month for job creation since December 2020.

The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 3.5%.

The report will likely do little to sway the Federal Reserve in its fight against inflation, which has already seen policymakers raise interest rates at the most aggressive pace since the 1980s in a bid to crush out-of-control consumer prices and cool the labor market.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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