New data released by the federal government's Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that U.S. employers added 256,000 jobs in December, bringing the total number of jobs gained in 2024 to 2.2 million.
In 2024, an average of 186,000 jobs were gained per month. The year beat historic norms.
In the last decade, the U.S. typically adds 1.9 million jobs per year, or 160,000 workers a month.
The Biden administration will likely boast about Friday's economic numbers as during his four-year tenure, the U.S. added 16.6 million workers. But many of the job gains came after a sharp drop in employment in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The U.S. had lost 9.5 million workers in 2020, according to government statistics.
The U.S. unemployment rate in December was 4.1%, which was down from 4.2% in November.
The unemployment rate held steady around 4% throughout all of 2024.
U.S. workers also continued to see their earnings improve relative to inflation. U.S. workers were making 3.9% per more per hour at the end of 2024 than the end of 2023. Workers were also earning 3.6% more per week at the end of the year compared to a year prior.
Final inflation numbers for 2024 will not be released until next week, but as of November, the 12-month inflation rate was 2.7%.
