WASHINGTON, DC — The Labor Department reports that 145,000 jobs were added in December, a number that is below where economists expected. However, the unemployment rate remained the same at 3.5 percent.
There were increases in retail and health care jobs, but the mining industry lost workers.
Overall, 2019 was a good year for jobs. It was the tenth straight year the U.S. has added more jobs than it lost. Wages continue to rise, but at a slow pace.
Women also mad up 50.0% of the workforce and gained more jobs than men last month.
The government said non-farm payrolls improved 2.9 percent from the previous year. That's the lowest rate since July of 2018.
U.S. private sector job growth reached a six-month low in November, the lowest since 2011.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said in a statement, “Today's jobs numbers are a clear sign that progress is being made, but now is not the time to take the pressure off in our work to create jobs. The middle class can't afford another year of a Republican 'do nothing' Congress.”
President Trump said last December while in London, that he doesn’t watch the stock market, he watches the jobs numbers.