On December 6, 2019, the Department of Labor released its monthly employment report for November. The jobs growth came in at 266,000 well above consensus estimates for the month. Data revisions added 41,000 jobs to the previous two months. The three-month average gain is now 205,000. Manufacturing jobs rose by 54,000 as the GM strike was settled during November. Total non-farm employment at the end of November was 158.9 million, up 1.8 million from the November 2018 level.
The unemployment rate declined to 3.5%, the lowest rate since 1969. The economy is attracting workers into the labor force as the Participation Rate rose to 63.2% from 62.9% a year ago. Average hourly earnings rose to $28.29 rose 3.1% from the $27.43 figure of one year ago. On balance, the Report shows that the U.S. economy is holding up well despite the problems from the China tariff disputes and slowing global trade volumes.