December jobs report expected to show hiring slowdown, steady unemployment rate

Josh Schafer • Reporter
Thu, January 9, 2025 at 1:10 PM EST 4 min read

The December jobs report is expected to show hiring slowed in the final month of 2024 while the unemployment rate was flat.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly jobs report is slated for release at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday. Economists expect nonfarm payrolls to have risen by 165,000 in December while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%, according to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

In November, the US economy added just 227,000 jobs as the labor market rebounded from several weather disruptions and worker strikes that impacted prior reports. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate increased to 4.2% from 4.1% during the month.

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Here are the key numbers Wall Street will be looking at on Friday, according to data from Bloomberg:

• Nonfarm payrolls: +165,000 vs. +227,000 in November

• Unemployment rate: 4.2% vs. 4.2% previously

• Average hourly earnings, month over month: +0.3% vs. +0.4% previously

• Average hourly earnings, year over year: +4% vs. +4% previously

• Average weekly hours worked: 34.3 vs. 34.3 previously

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