(Finance) – Non-farm payrolls increased more than expected in December, a widely observed indicator for understanding the health of a still resilient labor market. According to data provided by Bureau of Labor Statisticsthe unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, compared to 4.2% in the previous month and the consensus.
256 thousand jobs were added in non-agricultural sectors (non-farm payrolls), after 212 thousand pay slips had been created in November (figure revised from 227 thousand). The data on employed people, more observed than unemployment rateis higher than market expectations which indicated an increase of 164 thousand jobs.
The figure is also higher than expectations in the private sector: 223 thousand jobs were created, compared to the 182 thousand revised in November and the 135 expected by the market.
The manufacturing sector workers fell of 13 thousand units, against an increase of 5 thousand units estimated by the consensus and compared with the revised +25 thousand of the previous month.
The average hourly wages they stood at 34.3 dollars, recording an increase of 0.3% on the month and 3.9% on the year (against expectations for a +0.3 m/m and +4% y/y) after the +0 .4% monthly and the +4% trend recorded in November. The average hourly wages are monitored carefully by the Federal Reserve as a good indicator of both the health of the labor market and inflationary pressures.