US economy added 223,000 jobs in December as strong job market beats expectations
Payroll growth slowed in December but was still better than expected, a sign that the job market remains strong even as the Federal Reserve tries to rein in economic growth.Nonfarm payrolls increased by 223,000 for the month, above the Dow Jones estimate of 200,000, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, 0.2 percentage points below the expectation. Job growth marked a small decline from the gain of 256,000 in November, which was revised down by 7,000 from the initial estimate.Wage growth was lower than expected in an indication that inflationary pressures may be weakening. Average hourly earnings were up 0.3%…
