U.S. Economy Added 256,000 Jobs in December 2024
By Tom Burnett CFA
On January 10, 2025, the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its Employment Report for December 2024. Total employment grew by 256,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell from 4.2% to 4.1%. Job seekers totaled 6.9 million, less than the latest Job Openings (Jan 7, 2025) of 8.1 million. For all of 2024, 2.2 million jobs were added, less than the 3.0 million in 2023. The unemployment rate has come in at either 4.1% or 4.2% in each of the past seven months.
Average hourly earnings for nonfarm payrolls rose $0.10 to $35.69, up 3.9% from one year ago.
Revisions to prior reports showed a combined reduction of 8,000 from October/November 2024.
The next Employment Report will be issued on February 7, 2025.
Tom Burnett CFA is Director of Research