The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the latest unemployment and employment data on Friday, showing positive growth in the American workforce ahead of the new year. In December, 216,000 nonfarm payrolls were added, surpassing a projected growth of 170,000. This gain was also an increase from that of November.

The labor market, responsible partly for allaying fears of a major recession last year, reported a correction of November and October’s growth from 199,000 to 173,000 and 150,000 to 105,000, respectively. The leisure and hospitality sectors, which continue to fall short of pre-pandemic levels, added some jobs with a gain of 40,000. There were also notable gains in the construction and information sectors, where added employment was 17,000 and 14,000 respectively. Government employment also increased by 52,000 within a month.

However, employment in transportation and warehousing saw a decline of roughly 23,000 jobs. As per BLS data, courier and messenger services lost 32,000 jobs, while air transportation added 4,000 jobs. Since October 2022, employment in this sector has gone down by 100,000.

The unemployment rate prevailed at 3.7% from November to December, marginally lower than the expected 3.8% for December. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate declined from 62.8% to 62.5%, and the employment-population ratio also fell slightly from 60.4% to 60.1% over the same period. Average hourly earnings increased slightly from 4.0% in November to 4.1% in December, amounting to an average hourly wage of $34.27 in December.

In November, the number of employees leaving their job was around the February 2020 pre-pandemic level, according to a different report. The report indicated 3.5 million quits, 8.8 million openings, and 1.5 million layoffs and discharges in November. Economists continue to monitor these trends and anticipate the possibility of the Federal Open Market Committee reducing rates in 2024.