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The U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in December, while manufacturing employment remained mostly steady from November (USA Today and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

What’s going on: “U.S. employers added a booming 256,000 jobs in December,” USA Today reports. “The unemployment rate fell from 4.2% to 4.1%, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated that about 165,000 jobs were added last month, based on their median forecast.”

• Manufacturing employment was little changed in December, coming in at a seasonally adjusted 12,873,000 from November’s 12,886,000.
• Health care led the gains, followed by government and social assistance.

Durable vs. nondurable: Numbers held essentially steady in both durable and nondurable goods manufacturing in December.

• Durable goods manufacturing had a seasonally adjusted 8,060,000 jobs in December and 8,076,000 in November.
• Nondurable goods had a seasonally adjusted 4,813,000 jobs in December and 4,810,000 in November.

Wages: Average hourly pay among both manufacturing workers and employees on all nonfarm payrolls inched up a seasonally adjusted 10 cents from November to December.

• In manufacturing, the average hourly pay was a seasonally adjusted $34.60, up more than 4% from December 2023.
• In the larger economy, average hourly wages rose to $35.69, moving the annual increase down slightly to 3.9% from 4%.

What’s next? While President Trump’s “pledge to loosen regulations on companies and work with Congress to extend and expand tax cuts could embolden firms to step up hiring and investment … Moody’s predicts average monthly job growth will slow to 100,000 by the end of 2025.”