One of the strongest labor markets in US history just ended 2024 with a bang
CNN
The US economy closed out 2024 with another month of massive job growth, adding 256,000 positions in December.
The US economy closed out 2024 with another month of massive job growth, adding 256,000 positions in December. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1% from 4.2%, wrapping up a year that marked a return to pre-pandemic norms, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday. While the final jobs report for 2024 underscores how the US labor market has turned the corner since the pandemic, there’s plenty of uncertainty as to what 2025 could bring for the trajectory of the labor market — in part because of President-elect Donald Trump’s potential policy changes involving trade, immigration, taxes and the federal workforce. Including December’s gains, which are subject to revision, the economy added about 2.2 million jobs in 2024, an average of 186,000 jobs per month. That’s in line with annual totals from 2017 to 2019 but marks a slowdown from the blowout gains seen during the pandemic recovery during the prior years. The US has now added jobs for 48 months in a row, tying the second-longest period of employment expansion on record. Economists were expecting a net gain of 153,000 jobs and for the unemployment rate to stay at 4.2%, according to FactSet.
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