The US economy added 223,000 new jobs in December, making 2022 a historic year for the labor market

() — The US economy added 223,000 jobs in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly employment report released Friday, capping a year of extraordinary job growth and marking the second-best year for the labor market on record. in 1939.

The unemployment rate, for its part, fell to 3.5% from the 3.6% registered in November.

Economists expected the creation of 200,000 jobs by the last month of the year, according to Refinitiv. The December jobs total is lower than the downwardly revised 256,000 jobs that were added in November.

Including last month’s gains, which are still subject to review, the US economy added about 4.5 million jobs in 2022. That’s the second-highest total on record, after 6.7 million jobs. added in 2021, a boomerang from the 9.3 million jobs lost in 2020.

In December, the average hourly wage increased 0.3% from the previous month and 4.6% annually. That compares with monthly growth of 0.4% in November and annual growth of 4.8%.

The labor force participation rate increased to 62.3% from 62.2%.

News in development…