The December 2022 Jobs Report & November 2022 JOLTS: The Current U.S. Employment Situation

Nonfarm payrolls added 223,000 jobs in December, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s December 2022 jobs report, beating economists’ expectations of 200,000. Additionally, the unemployment rate fell unexpectedly to 3.5%, continuing its dance between 3.5% and 3.7% since March. Finally, the number of unemployed persons edged down slightly to 5.7 million from 6 million in November.

According to the November 2022 Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) released Wednesday, the number of job openings remained the same as October at 10.5 million. Meanwhile, the total number of separations was 5.9 million, with voluntary quits accounting for 4.2 million of those separations, and layoffs and discharges accounting for 1.4 million. The high number of quits indicates that employers are still experiencing retention difficulties. For context, the monthly average of quits before the pandemic was 2.6 million.

Other noteworthy statistics from the reports:

• Average hourly earnings increased by .3%, falling short of expectations. The yearly average for hourly earnings sits at 4.6%, the lowest it’s been since August 2021, and significantly lower than the current rate of inflation.
• The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for November was revised down from 263,000 to 256,000.
• The number of people quitting their jobs each month has been above 4 million for the last year and a half.

Among the top industries hiring in December were leisure and hospitality, healthcare, and other services. Professional and business services saw a decline.

December’s numbers show the job market isn’t slowing down. Whether you’re a job seeker or employer, iHire’s platform is built to help you succeed.