(MENAFN- KUNA) The US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday revealed that the country saw an increase of 252,000 jobs in December, which helped the unemployment rate drop to 5.6 percent.
The job additions, however, do not factor in any non-payroll farm employment.
"Total job growth last year was the strongest since 1999, while the unemployment rate fell at the fastest pace in three decades," Jason Furman, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said in a statement released by the White House. "Although nominal wages fell in December, inflation-adjusted wages have generally been rising, and job growth has picked up in sectors that traditionally provide good, middle-class jobs." The latest figures show that 240,000 of the new jobs came from the private sector, which has provided at least 200,000 new jobs every month for eleven consecutive months.
This marks "the first time that has happened since the 1990s," Furman said.
Total employment over the past year rose by 2.95 million, the numbers showed, with higher-earning blue collar jobs driving the growth.
"On a percentage basis, the economy is adding jobs at a rate of about two percent per year, also on pace for the largest percentage increase in any calendar year since the late 1990s," Furman noted. "The pace of manufacturing job growth has more than doubled to 16,000 per month this year, from 7,000 per month last year, and average weekly earnings for manufacturing workers are about USD 170 higher than for all private-sector workers." The figures also showed that the annual average unemployment rate in the US fell 1.2 percentage point between 2013 and 2014, which makes it the largest such decline since 1984, Furman affirmed.
Hourly wages for production and non-supervisory workers are reported to have risen by 2.2 percent from 2013, while a review of various industries showed December was one of the top 10 strongest months for construction, with 48,000 new jobs, and health care and social assistance, with 44,000 new jobs, Furman said.
However retail trade, with 8,000 new hires, and transportation and warehousing, with 3,000 new hires, "saw job growth that was well below recent trends," he noted.
As for President Barack Obama's economic initiatives, Furman said he "has been laying out his vision to build on this progress by increasing access to community college, supporting the recovery in the housing sector and investing in US manufacturing." He added the president "looks forward to working with Congress and taking action on his own authority to invest in America's infrastructure, close tax loopholes and encourage job creation in America, support working families, expand overseas markets for American goods and services, make common sense reforms to the immigration system, and raise the minimum wage."
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