US economy shows resilience with robust hiring in December

The US economy capped a strong year of jobs growth with stellar December data, demonstrating resilience amid slowing global growth, China`s turmoil, and the steep decline of the oil sector.

The Labor Department said Friday that employers added 292,000 new jobs last month, a year-end surge that was far better than expected.

It took total jobs created during the year to 2.65 million, the second-best year, after 2014, since the 1990s.

The report was seen as a good sign for the US economy which is proving to be an island of strength as Europe and Japan continue to struggle and emerging-market economies, led by China, head downward.

While the official unemployment rate held at 5.0 percent, and wage gains remained tepid at 2.5 percent year on year, the report supported the Federal Reserve`s view that the employment sector was tightening fast enough to justify it raising its benchmark interest rate last month for the first time in over nine years.

The jobs report also demonstrated that expectations of small hikes in the central bank`s federal funds rate had not caused employers to hold off recruiting new workers when they need them.

"It`s extraordinary to see such rapid jobs growth, and increasingly low unemployment, with no inflationary pressures at all," said Brookings Institution senior economist Justin Wolfers in a tweet.

Hiring was solid across the board, led by construction, professional and business services, and health care.

While the mining sector continued to shed jobs, primarily due to the collapse in crude-oil prices, even the government was picking up the slack with expanded hiring.

The data suggested an increase of workforce dropouts returning to the labor market, though there were still some signs of weakness.

The number of long-term unemployed -- those unable to find a new jobs after searching for 27 weeks or more - was unchanged at 2.1 million.

The number of people forced to work part time because they cannot find full-time jobs held steady at 6.0 million.

And the participation rate in the labor market remained at a low 62.6 percent, compared with more than 66 percent before the recession.