The pace of hiring slowed in December, with employers adding 148,000 jobs, the lowest number since September, the Labor Department said this morning. That brought employment gains for the year to 2.1 million. The headline unemployment rate remained at 4.1 percent.
Employers added better than 2 million jobs for the seventh straight year in 2017. It is only the second time on record—the other being in the 1990s—when the economy has produced jobs at that pace for that long.
An unexpected loss of 20,000 retail positions during the holiday season held back the December jobs number. The biggest gains came from health care (31,000), construction (30,000) and manufacturing (25,000). Bars and restaurants added 25,000, while professional and business services grew by 19,000.
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