One year in, a ‘ho-hum’ jobs report

(The Center Square) – December’s jobs data changed little from November, rounding out an underwhelming year for the U.S. labor market. Initial estimates put job gains at 50,000, though if December is like every other month this year, that number will be revised downward in the coming months. By comparison, last December saw an increase roughly 6.5 times greater, with 323,000 jobs added from the previous month. Payrolls rose by an estimated 269,000 from November to December 2023, while pre-pandemic December 2019 posted nonfarm employment growth of 127,000 jobs. Bruce Yandle, an adjunct fellow at George Mason University’s market-oriented Mercatus Center, described it as “ho-hum.” “We have about the same level of total employment here in December as we had in January, when the year was starting. And so in a sense, when you look at the report and stare at it… it looks like the world is flat,” Yandle told The Center Square. The year started off stronger than it finished, with monthly job cr