US December Jobs Report May Show Labor Market Remains Tight: The Projected Numbers

Zinger Key Points
  • The number of U.S. citizens filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased in December. 
  • The labor market's resilience is a central focus for Fed policymakers.

The much-anticipated U.S. jobs report for December will be released on Jan. 6, 2023, and may highlight the flexibility of the country's labor market through 2022. 

The anticipated data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics include payrolls projected to have risen by about 200,000 in December, reports Bloomberg. 

The labor supply and demand mismatch continues to put pressure on wages. In December, the average hourly earnings are expected to have risen by 5%, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.7%. 

Also Read: What's The Top Job Creator In America Right Now? The Answer Might Surprise You

The Labor Department last week announced that claims for state unemployment benefits rose 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 225,000 for the week ended Dec. 24. 

The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid rose 41,000 to 1.710 million in the week ending Dec. 17, reports Reuters.  

Fed officials have projected the unemployment rate could climb to 4.6% in 2023, which would equate to about 1.5 million lost job.

Earlier in December, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said, "It feels like we have a structural labor shortage out there."

The labor market's resilience is a central focus for Fed policymakers. In 2022, the U.S. economy created an average of 392,000 monthly new jobs despite rate hikes and growing fears of a recession in 2023.

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

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