U.S. Adds 50,000 Jobs in December as Prior Months Are Revised Lower

Overview

• Nonfarm payrolls rose by 50,000 in December, undershooting the roughly 60,000 increase expected by a Reuters consensus.
• The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.4% from 4.5% in November, which was revised from an initially reported 4.6%.
• October and November payroll estimates were cut by a combined 76,000, including a downgrade of November’s gain to 56,000 from 64,000.
• Job gains were concentrated in leisure and hospitality (+47,000) and education and health (+41,000), while construction (-11,000) and manufacturing (-8,000) shed jobs; government employment rose by 13,000 and private payrolls increased by 37,000.
• The Fed lowered rates in December, its projections point to one additional 0.25% cut this year, and Chair Jerome Powell has warned that headline employment figures may overstate strength.