Trump Effect: 266,000 New Jobs Added in November – blowing out expectations

The U.S. economy added a robust 266,000 jobs in November blowing out analysts’ expectations of 187,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Gains were largest in manufacturing (54,000), leisure and hospitality (45,000), health care (45,000), professional and technical services (31,000), and transportation and warehousing (16,000).

Clothing and accessory retailers saw the largest losses as more than 18,000 jobs were lost in the industry.

Most other industries showed no real change in November and the overall unemployment rate held steady at a decades-low 3.5%, the lowest since 1969.

Earnings were up across the board with average hourly pay increasing at 3.1% for the year – almost twice the rate of inflation.

September jobs were revised up 13,000 to 193,000 new jobs, October’s estimate was hiked 28,000 to 156,000 for a total of 41,000 more jobs than previously reported.

All of these gains were made despite Democrats’ failure to pass the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement on trade (USMCA). The agreement has been held up in the house for more than a year while Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her party focused on impeachment.