
NFIB Weekly News
Unemployment Rate Fell To 3.9% In December; Wage Gains Accelerated (01/11/2022)
Bloomberg (1/7, Pickert) reported the Labor Department announced last Friday that the US unemployment rate “fell below 4% and wages jumped last month, adding to evidence of a tight labor market that’s expected to help spur Federal Reserve interest-rate liftoff as soon as March despite disappointing payroll growth.”
The AP (1/7, Rugaber) reported that the unemployment rate “fell in December to a healthy 3.9% – a pandemic low – even as employers added a modest 199,000 jobs, evidence that they are struggling to fill jobs with many Americans reluctant to return to the workforce.” The AP also reported, “The drop in the jobless rate, from 4.2% in November, indicated that many more people found work last month. Indeed, despite the slight hiring gain reported by businesses, 651,000 more workers said they were employed in December compared with November.” The AP added that “wages also rose sharply in December, with average hourly pay jumping 4.7% compared with a year ago.”