- The US added 223,000 jobs in December 2022, more than the job growth forecasted.
- The unemployment rate shrunk from 3.6% to 3.5% in December.
- Friday's labor market figures add to the evidence that the country wasn't in a recession in 2022.
Bureau of Labor Statistics data out Friday morning showed the US continued to add more jobs than expected in the last month of 2022.
Nonfarm payrolls climbed by 223,000 in December, lower than the revised gain in November, but exceeding the forecast of 200,000 according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The increase in nonfarm payrolls in October and November were also revised. November's gain of 263,000 jobs was revised to 256,000. October's job growth of 284,000 noted in the previous data release was revised to 263,000 in Friday's release.
The unemployment rate was expected to be 3.7%, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. In December, the US unemployment rate fell from 3.6% to 3.5%.
The new data adds to other economic data that there isn't a recession yet even as economists, CEOs, and others have been sharing their thoughts on it. Insider spoke to economists in December about a US recession, and one pointed to the robust job figures as to why there wasn't a recession yet.
"The reason we're not in a recession is that the labor market still is performing very well in the US economy," Ken Kim, a senior economist at KPMG, told Insider. "So people are still finding jobs and getting a paycheck and spending it on goods and services."
Other economic data outside of labor market figures, like consumer spending, also suggest the US isn't in a recession.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics also released job opening data on Wednesday as part of the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). According to the new data, there were 10.5 million job openings in the US in November, similar to October's revised number of openings. And the preliminary layoff rate for November showed the rate was 0.9% for the third straight month, near the historic low. And people were still leaving jobs in high numbers, with over 4 million quits.
Based on JOLTS data, Nick Bunker, economic research director at Indeed Hiring Lab, wrote in a post earlier this week that the "labor market remains on fire."
"A labor market this strong means an imminent recession is highly improbable," Bunker wrote. "This year will pose many challenges for the US economy, but the labor market looks set to enter with considerable strength."
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.