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US labor market finishes 2024 on high note, adding 256,000 jobs in December as unemployment falls to 4.1%

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US labor market finishes 2024 on high note, adding 256,000 jobs in December as unemployment falls to 4.1%

The US economy added more jobs than forecast in December while the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday showed 256,000 new jobs were created in December, far more than the 165,000 expected by economists and higher than the 212,000 seen in November. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2% in November. December marked the most monthly job gains seen since March 2023.

Revisions to the unemployment rate in 2024 also showed the labor market was stronger than initially thought. The cycle high for the unemployment rate had initially been 4.3% in July but that figure was revised down to 4.2% in Friday’s release.

“There is no denying that this is a strong report,” Jefferies US economist Thomas Simons wrote in a note to clients on Friday.

Wage growth, an important measure for gauging inflation pressures, rose 0.3% in December, in line with economists’ expectations and below the 0.4% seen in November.

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Compared to the prior year, wages rose 3.9% in December, below the 4% seen in November. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate was flat at 62.5%.

The strong picture of the US labor market presented in Friday’s report pushed out investor bets on when the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next. Traders now see a less than 50% chance of the Fed cutting interest rates until June, per the CME Fed Watch Tool. A day prior, investors had favored a cut in May.

Read more: How the Fed rate cut affects your bank accounts, loans, credit cards, and investments

“You’re seeing this steady but slightly cooling labor market trend, which is very encouraging from a Fed perspective,” EY chief economist Gregory Daco told Yahoo Finance. “I think the attention will actually pivot back towards inflation developments over the course of the next three months.”

Stocks sank following the report, with futures tied to all three major averages down nearly 1%. Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX), a recent headwind for stocks, added about 8 basis points to reach 4.78%, its highest level since November 2023.

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“The problem here now is if you’re looking for rate cuts based on a weakening labor market..stop looking for those,” Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, told Yahoo Finance. “It’s not going to happen in the immediate term.”

A general view as fans hold up national flags in support of Team United States during the evening Swimming session on day eight of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on Aug. 3, 2024, in Nanterre, France. (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images) · Quinn Rooney via Getty Images

Josh Schafer is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X @_joshschafer.

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Finance & Budget Committee chair Reiches wants city's fiscal level sound – Evanston RoundTable

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Finance & Budget Committee chair Reiches wants city's fiscal level sound – Evanston RoundTable
From left: Council member Jonathan Nieuwsma, Finance and Budget Committee chair Shari Reiches and committee member David Livingston. Credit: Bob Seidenberg

Shari Reiches is a leader and a go-getter. You may be familiar with her name from earlier RoundTable articles about her work on the city’s Finance & Budget Committee where she is the group’s chair. The committee meets the second Tuesday of every month (except in August) and there is always an agenda provided ahead online. The next meeting will take place at 5 p.m., Feb. 11.

Business founder, author, volunteer

Twenty years ago Reiches co-founded the business, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management. Today the firm employees a dozen people and manages more than a billion dollars in investments for individuals, families and nonprofit organizations.

Shari Greco Reiches Credit: Jessica Kaplan

She enjoys public speaking; one of her favorite topics is financial planning and values. In fact, Reiches wrote a book, Maximize Your Return on Life — Invest Your Time and Money in What You Value Most, that explains her philosophy and vision of investing. Radio programs, television shows, newspapers, magazines and podcasts seek out her point of view when it comes to money matters. She also volunteers with many organizations important to her.

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Trump puts tariffs on hold: What he still plans to pass on Day 1

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Trump puts tariffs on hold: What he still plans to pass on Day 1

President Donald Trump has officially been sworn back into office for his second term on Monday, January 20. Trump has a slew of policies and executive orders he seeks to enact on his first day back in office following his inauguration ceremony. A hot talking point on the campaign trail and the time since his election victory, Trump announced his plans to put his tariff proposals on hold for now.

Yahoo Finance senior columnist Rick Newman and Washington correspondent Ben Werschkul join the show to discuss the executive actions Trump is still planning upon his return to the Oval Office.

Read up on Yahoo Finance’s Guide to Trump 2.0 and what the incoming administration still plans to pass.

Watch President Donald Trump’s 2025 Inauguration ceremony, while staying up to date with all the market news and economic data covered by Yahoo Finance.

This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.

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IAEA Profile: Balancing Numbers and Dreams – A Career in Finance and Accounting

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IAEA Profile: Balancing Numbers and Dreams – A Career in Finance and Accounting

The IAEA profiles employees to provide insight into the variety of career paths that support the Agency’s mission of Atoms for Peace and Development and to inspire and encourage readers, particularly women, to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) or STEM-adjacent fields. Read more profiles of women at the IAEA.      

Hailing from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Carmen Kibonge has taken a path shaped by a passion for numbers, a supportive family and a commitment to make a difference, which eventually led her to the IAEA.  

Kibonge was raised in a family that encouraged educational aspirations for both girls and boys, which is not always the case in her central African home country, where economic constraints often lead families to prioritize the education of boys. “In my family, it was expected that a girl would go to school. I know I was privileged, and I really appreciated the access to education,” she reflects. She was also inspired by her mother, an HR manager who was one of the few women in her community to pursue higher education.  

From an early age, Kibonge was captivated by mathematics and loved “cracking numbers”. Because of her mental arithmetic skills, her nickname at school was Ordi, after the French word for computer. But maths was not part of her original career aspirations. When she contemplated her future, a desire to help others and the work of international organizations in low and middle income countries like her own led her to consider a career in medicine. Her dream of becoming a paediatrician, however, shifted when she was confronted with the sight of blood in biology class. Nevertheless, the seed of wanting to work internationally had been planted. “I wanted to help people, not just in my country, but globally,” she says.  

Kibonge decided to pursue higher education in Austria, motivated by stories from friends who had lived there, as well as her love of classical music. Following her passion for numbers, she enrolled at the University of Vienna to study business administration with a focus on finance and accounting. Meanwhile, she supported herself by giving maths lessons.  

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The move to Vienna was not without its challenges, as Kibonge had to first learn German before starting her degree programme. She dedicated the first two semesters to intensive language study. “Those early days in Vienna were really challenging, but I really put my mind to it,” she recalls. “If you really want something, you can manage it.” Living in the city of classical music had its upsides though, and she often attended performances at the opera and philharmonic, impressed by how accessible they were even for students of modest means.  

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