December Hirings: US economy shows resilience

WASHINGTON: The US economy capped a strong year of jobs growth with stellar December data, demonstrating resilience amid slowing global growth, China’s turmoil, and the steep decline of the oil sector. The Labor Department said Friday that employers added 292,000 new jobs last month, a year-end surge that was far better than expected. It took total jobs created during the year to 2.65 million, the second-best year, after 2014, since the 1990s. The report was seen as a good sign for the US economy which is proving to be an island of strength as Europe and Japan continue to struggle and emerging-market economies, led by China, head downward. While the official unemployment rate held at 5.0%, and wage gains remained tepid at 2.5% year on year, the report supported the Federal Reserve’s view that the employment sector was tightening fast enough to justify it raising its benchmark interest rate last month for the first time in over nine years.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2016.

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