U.S. employers added 157,000 workers in
December, capping the best year for job growth since 1999, a
government report showed.
The unemployment rate held at 5.4 percent, the Labor
Department said Friday in Washington. Job gains for October and
November were revised higher by a combined 34,000, bringing the
total for 2004 to 2.23 million.
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Companies expanded as the world’s biggest economy grew at a
pace estimated to be the fastest in five years. Manufacturers
added 3,000 jobs in December and 76,000 jobs for the year, the
first annual gain since 1997. Federal Reserve policy-makers at
their meeting last month concluded labor demand may be strong
enough to reduce unemployment and drive up incomes, a signal they
will keep raising interest rates to ward off inflation.
“We have enough job growth to continue to give us income
creation, which will help support consumer spending” and keep the
Fed raising its benchmark interest about 25 basis points a
meeting, said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. fixed income economist
at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York. “The economy is in good
shape and it’s really steady as she goes.”
A comparable gain in January would be enough for George W.
Bush to avoid becoming the first U.S. president since Herbert
Hoover to end a term with fewer jobs than when he started.
“I’m optimistic,” Treasury Secretary John Snow said in an
interview. “The economy is on a good course and will continue to
grow above-trend levels, which mean we’ll be creating lots of
jobs.”
Economists had predicted a 175,000 increase in payrolls after
a previously reported gain of 112,000 in November, according to
the median of 75 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. November
was revised up by 25,000 jobs and October by 9,000. The jobless
rate, which is determined by a separate survey of households,
matched the median forecast.
“We have a decent job market overall but not a spectacular
job market,” said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic
Advisors in Holland, Pa., and the top economic growth
forecaster in a Bloomberg News survey for the 12 months ended in
June. “It’s enough to keep the economy going.”
Bloomberg News
