US job growth increased solidly in November in a show of the economy's resilience, which most likely paves the way for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this month for the first time in nearly a decade.
Non-farm payrolls increased 211,000 last month, the Labor Department said today.
September and October data was revised to show 35,000 more jobs than previously reported.
The unemployment rate was steady at a seven and a half year low of 5%, despite more people returning to the labour force in a sign of confidence in the jobs market.
The jobless rate is in a range many Fed officials see as consistent with full employment and has dropped seven-tenths of a percentage point this year.
The closely watched employment report came a day after Fed Chair Janet Yellen struck an upbeat note on the economy when she testified before lawmakers.
She said the US economy had largely met the criteria the Fed has set for its first rate hike since June 2006.
Yellen said the economy needs to create just under 100,000 jobs a month to keep up with growth in the working age population.
The Fed's policy-setting committee will meet on December 15-16.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast non-farm payrolls rising 200,000 last month and the unemployment rate steady at 5%.
The second month of strong job gains in a row should allay fears the economy has hit a soft patch, after reports showing tepid consumer spending in October and a slowdown in services industry growth in November.
Though wage growth slowed last month, economists say that was mostly payback for October's big gains, which were driven by a calendar quirk.
Anecdotal evidence, as well as data on labour-related costs, suggest that tightening job market conditions are starting to put upward pressure on wages.
Average hourly earnings increased four cents, or 0.2% from 0.4% in October. That lowered the year-on-year reading to 2.3% from 2.5% in October. The average workweek, however, dipped to 34.5 hours from 34.6.
Other labour market measures that Fed officials are eyeing as they consider lifting the benchmark overnight interest rate from near zero were mixed.
The labour force participation rate, or the share of working-age Americans who are employed or at least looking for a job, rose to 62.5% from a near 38-year low of 62.4%.
But a broad measure of joblessness that includes people who want to work but have given up searching and those working part-time because they cannot find full-time employment rose one-tenth of a percentage point to 9.9%.
Employment gains in November were broad-based, though manufacturing shed 1,000 positions and mining lost 11,000 jobs.
Manufacturing has been hit by a strong dollar, efforts by businesses to reduce bloated inventory and spending cuts by energy companies scaling back well drilling and exploration in response to sharply lower oil prices.
Mining employment has declined by 123,000 since reaching a peak in December 2014. Three quarters of the job losses over this period have been in support activities for mining.
Oilfield services provider Schlumberger this week announced another round of job cuts in addition to 20,000 layoffs already reported this year. The company said it expected the slowdown in drilling activity to continue in 2016.
Construction payrolls increased 46,000 last month. With 163,000 jobs added, the services sector accounted for the bulk of the increase in employment last month.
Retail jobs rose bu 30,700 and transportation and warehousing employment rebounded after two months of declines in a row.
Meanwhile, professional services added 27,000 jobs and government payrolls increased 14,000 last month.
US trade deficit grows as exports hit 3-year low
The US trade deficit widened in October as exports fell to their lowest level in three years amid a slowing global economy and a strong dollar, official data showed today.
The trade gap widened to $43.9 billion in October from an upwardly revised September reading of $42.5 billion.
Exports fell faster than imports as the strong dollar makes exports relatively more expensive.
Exports dropped 1.4% to $184.1 billion as shipments of goods such as industrial supplies and materials and petroleum products sank to a five-year low. Services exports, including transport and financial services, increased modestly.
Despite the strong dollar boosting American consumers' buying power, imports slipped 0.6% to $228 billion.
The decline was seen in both goods and services, with imports of industrial supplies and materials the leading the pullback.
The trade gap in petroleum products shrank to $4.1 billion, its lowest level since 1999, reflecting the boom in US natural gas and shale oil production, and falling oil prices.
Over the first 10 months of the year, the trade gap rose to $22.2 billion, a gain of 5.3% from the same time last year.
