Market Data 
- The US economy added 256,000 jobs in December, more than the forecast of 164,000.
- Unemployment was expected to hold steady at 4.2% but fell to 4.1%.
- Economists expect 2025 to be a tough labor market for job searchers.
The US labor market ended 2024 on a high note, adding 256,000 jobs in December, above the forecast of 164,000.
Unemployment unexpectedly dropped from 4.2% in November to 4.1% in December. The consensus expectation was that the rate would hold steady.
The new jobs report likely won’t derail the Federal Reserve’s widely expected pause in its interest-rate easing campaign at its coming meeting after three rate cuts in a row.
CME FedWatch, which shows what traders think will happen to interest rates based on market activity, showed a 93% chance that rates wouldn’t be changed in the first scheduled Federal Open Market Committee meeting of 2025 on January 28 and 29. There are eight scheduled FOMC meetings in 2025, but the Committee’s members signaled in December that the Fed plans only two cuts this year.
In a press conference after the December meeting — where the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points — Fed chair Jerome Powell said that “the labor market is now looser than pre-pandemic” and is gradually still cooling down. He added further cooling isn’t needed to reach the Fed’s 2% inflation target.
Economists predict the job market in 2025 will be challenging for job searchers, and employers might be cautious in their hiring plans during the start of the year.
“While business sentiment has picked up somewhat since the election, there is still a lot of uncertainty about future policy changes that will likely make businesses hesitant to ramp up hiring, particularly in the first half of 2025,” Dante DeAntonio, a labor economist with Moody’s Analytics, said in a written statement.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
