Payrolls and wages blow past expectations and flying in the face of Fed rate hikes

Job growth was much better than expected in November despite the Federal Reserve’s aggressive efforts to slow the labor market and tackle inflation.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 263,000 for the month while the unemployment rate was 3.7%, the Labor Department reported Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for an increase of 200,000 on the payrolls number and 3.7% for the jobless rate.

The monthly gain was a slight decrease from October’s upwardly revised 284,000.

The numbers likely will do little to slow a Fed that has been raising interest rates steadily this year to bring down inflation still running near its highest level in more than 40 years.

In another blow to the Fed’s anti-inflation efforts, average hourly earnings jumped 0.6% for the month, double the Dow Jones estimate. Wages were up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis, also well above the 4.6% expectation.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged following the report, falling more than 400 points as the hot jobs report could make the Fed even more aggressive.

Leisure and hospitality led the job gains, adding 88,000 positions.

Other sector gainers included health care (45,000), government (42,000) and other services, a category that includes personal and laundry services and which showed a total gain of 24,000. Social assistance saw a rise of 23,000, which the Labor Department said brings the sector back to where it was in February 2020 before the Covid pandemic.

Construction added 20,000 positions, while information was up 19,000 and manufacturing saw a gain of 14,000.

On the downside, retail establishments reported a loss of 30,000 positions heading into what is expected to be a busy holiday shopping season. Transportation and warehousing also saw a decline, down 15,000.

This is breaking news. Please check back here for updates.