WASHINGTON (AP) – As the government prepares to issue the November jobs report, a key question remains unanswered: Is the U.S. job market finally healthy enough to lift Americans’ long-stagnant pay?
Some tantalizing signs have suggested that wages are beginning to pick up after barely moving in the 6½ years since the Great Recession officially ended. On Friday, the latest jobs data should offer some clues about whether the modest pay gains will continue.
By many measures, the job market is nearly back to normal. The unemployment rate is 5 percent, down from its 10 percent peak in 2009. Employers have added a robust average of 206,000 jobs a month this year, more than enough to keep lowering the jobless rate over time.
Economists have forecast that Friday’s report will show that 200,000 more jobs were added in November and that the unemployment rate remained at 5 percent, according to data firm FactSet.
Even if hiring falls far short of those numbers, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise the short-term interest rate it controls for the first time in nine years after its next policy meeting Dec. 15-16. Friday’s jobs report will be the last one the Fed will see before that meeting.