Job Gains Picked Up in December, Capping Year of Healthy Hiring

Employers hired at a solid pace in December, capping a year of steady gains for a job market that continues to defy expectations and remains a bright spot in a gradually cooling economy.

The U.S. economy added 216,000 jobs last month with most industries increasing employment, the Labor Department reported Friday. That was larger than November’s gain of 173,000, and better than forecasters were expecting. For all of 2023, employers added 2.7 million jobs, a slowdown from 4.8 million in 2022, but a better gain than in the several years preceding the pandemic.