Predictions of a looming recession have been widespread ever since the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates to fight inflation in March 2022, hiking borrowing costs for already struggling businesses and consumers nationwide. But the resilience of the U.S. labor market has helped fend off a recession over the past few years, to the surprise of many experts—and that trend continued in November.
The U.S. economy added 199,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.7%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. That’s compared with consensus estimates for 150,000 new jobs and a 3.9% unemployment rate.
