Washington: US firms added 223,000 jobs in December 2022, according to data from the Labour Department.
That beat analysts’ estimates only by a hair, with economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicting that 200,000 jobs would be added, Xinhua news agency quoted the Department as saying.
While the jobs report showed lighter gains than expected, analysts doubt the news will make any significant impact on the current Fed policy of keeping rates high to slow the labour market and kill surging inflation.
In Fed minutes published earlier this week, the central bank indicated that rates will remain higher for the foreseeable future, as the worst inflation in four decades shows no sign of significantly abating.