US Economy Smashes Forecasts, Adds 266,000 Jobs in November

Government data out Friday showed the US added far more jobs than expected in November, relieving concerns that one of the brightest spots in the economy was starting to run out of steam. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said 266,000 nonfarm payrolls were created last month, pushing the unemployment rate to a historically low 3.5%. The figure was temporarily boosted by the end of a six-week strike at General Motors, which had idled roughly 50,000 workers throughout October. Economists had predicted that would help lift payroll gains to 185,000 in November from 156,000 a month earlier. “Looking at the high number of jobs that were added in November, you might forget that the story for most of this year was that the economy was slowing down,” said Nick Bunker, the research director at Indeed Hiring Lab.” Click to read more at www.markets.businessinsider.com.