Friday’s jobs report was “even more important” than normal as the market adjusts its assessment of the direction of the economy.

The economy created 256,000 jobs in December, much stronger than what was predicted by Wall Street experts and more than 40,000 from the previous month, the Labor Department in its report released on Friday.

US hiring picked up unexpectedly in December as employers added 256,000 jobs, another sign of the economy’s resilience in the face of high interest rates. The Labor Department reported Friday that job growth was up last month from 212,

The U.S. added 256,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1 percent in December, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department. The December jobs report showed the U.S. economy blowing past expectations to end the year.

Employers added 256,000 jobs in December, blowing past economists' expectations and signaling that the job market remains resilient in the face of still-high borrowing rates and stickier-than-expected inflation.

The Labor Department released its jobs report for December which showed the U.S. economy added 256,000 jobs last month, well above economists' expectations.

The US labor market ended 2024 on a high note, adding 256,000 jobs in December, above the forecast of 164,000. Unemployment unexpectedly dropped from 4.2% in November to 4.1% in December. The consensus expectation was that the rate would hold steady.