November 2018 Jobs Report

The U.S. economy added 155,000 non-farm jobs in November, the unemployment rate held steady at a historically low 3.7 percent for the third month in a row, and wages rose 3.1 percent for the second month in a row. The job gains were below economists’ expectations of 190,000, but according to David Donabedian, chief investment officer of CIBC Private Wealth Management, the economy is still well in “expansion mode.” Donabedian told the Times, “So the state of the job market is good. It’s just that the pace of job creation is slowing a little bit…if you have solid wage growth while productivity is improving, that is the best of both worlds.”

Job gains were seen in industries such as health care (32,000), professional and business services (32,000), manufacturing (27,000), and transportation and warehousing (25,000).

The major uncertainties include the ongoing trade disputes between the U.S. and China, low oil prices, and the Fed’s potential rate hike spurred on in large part by continued wage increases, some of those in response to Amazon’s $15 minimum wage increase which took effect on November 1.

One certainty is tight job market. The number of open job opportunities far exceeds the number of qualified workers needed to fill them. “Markets shouldn’t be too disappointed as the fact that there aren’t enough workers was almost certainly a major factor,” said James Knightley, chief international economist at ING told Yahoo Finance.