Unemployment Rate At Nine-Year Low Of 4.6 Percent As Employers Add 178K Jobs

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, file photo, job applications and information for the Gap Factory Store sit on a table during a job fair at Dolphin Mall in Miami. On Thursday, July 7, 2016, the Labor Department ... FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, file photo, job applications and information for the Gap Factory Store sit on a table during a job fair at Dolphin Mall in Miami. On Thursday, July 7, 2016, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits the week before. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File) MORE LESS
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. unemployment rate fell to a nine-year low of 4.6 percent last month, though not for the best reason: Many of the unemployed gave up looking for work.

Employers added a solid 178,000 jobs in November, nearly matching the average monthly gains this year. Those gains point to the steady economic growth that President-elect Donald Trump is poised to inherit.

Average hourly pay slipped, however, after a solid gain the previous month. Pay has increased at only a modest pace in the past year.

The report’s mixed signals illustrate the challenges facing Trump: On the surface, steady job gains and a low unemployment rate suggest the economy is healthy. But weak pay increases and fewer Americans working or looking for work point to longer-term challenges.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  1. Trump: “See ? just being elected, brought the unemployment rate down !”

  2. Avatar for cabchi cabchi says:

    Nah, this explains why Hillary won such a smashing victory, even exceeding Obama’s numbers in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Political parties don’t lose the WH when they have saved the country from economic collapse and brought renewed prosperity to so many.

  3. And speling!

  4. it’s not the spelling, it’s the typing…

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