The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics published the December 2019 jobs report on Friday, which shows that the economy has continued to perform well leading into the fourth year of President Trump’s tenure.
According to the report, the U.S. economy added 145,000 new jobs during the month of December, and the unemployment rate has remained at 3.5% — a fifty-year low — for the second month in a row. In total, the U.S. economy added 2.1 million jobs during 2019.
The White House Council of Economic Advisors published a press release on Friday putting the economic growth into perspective.
“The U.S. economy needs to create around 70,000 jobs a month to keep pace with working-age population growth. Any employment growth above this level is typically from workers coming off the sidelines,” reads the press release.
“With employment gains surpassing 100,000 in 34 of the 37 months since the 2016 election, and the economy adding jobs in each month, this is precisely what is happening under President Trump,” the press release continues.
While the December growth has been great for the economy as a whole, certain industries hired more workers than others.
The report notes that 41,000 jobs were added in the retail industry in December, with 33,000 jobs being added at clothing and accessory stores around the country. An additional 7,000 jobs were added at building material and garden supply stores.
The healthcare industry also experienced large amounts of growth during the final month of 2019. During the course of the month, 23,000 jobs were added in the ambulatory services industry and 9,000 jobs were added at hospitals.
While the mining industry lost 8,000 jobs, other industries, including construction, professional and business services, transportation and warehousing, and manufacturing, remained relatively steady.
According to Fox News, the total job growth for December marks the “111th month of straight gains,” but also represents “weaker-than-expected” performance for the final month of the year. The news agency notes economists were expecting the U.S. to add 19,000 more jobs in December than reported.
Tony Bedikian, the head of global markets at City Bank, told the news agency that while the figures are below what was expected, “this is still a very solid number and a fitting way to close out what has been a decade of slow, but steady, economic growth.”
Larry Kudlow, the chief economic adviser for the Trump administration, told Fox Business on Friday that he still believes “the economy is strong.”
The news agency notes that “the broader picture of the labor market is consistent with economists’ expectations that the economy, in the midst of a record-long expansion, is beginning to slow, a result of the fading stimulus from President Trump’s $1.5 trillion tax cuts in 2017 and the market-rattling trade war between the U.S. and China.”
Despite the jobs report showing less growth than expected, Fox News reports that “the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed above 29,000 for the first time,” and that “all three of the major averages were trading in record territory.”