WASHINGTON–With the U.S. economy adding 211,000 jobs in November, it’s increasingly likely the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates later this month.
“The November jobs report showed another strong month of job gains, along with upward revisions to prior months,” said NAFCU Chief Economist Curt Long. “Wage growth moderated somewhat, but the labor force participation rate ticked up for the first time since May. This should put to bed any doubts about whether the Fed will announce a rate increase later this month. Barring something completely out of left field between now and then, liftoff will commence with a quarter-point rate increase to the target federal funds rate.”
The unemployment rate held steady at 5% in the most recent data.