Employers added 199K jobs in December, including 3.4K in accounting

The unemployment rate fell from 4.2% to 3.9% in December as employers added 199,000 jobs, including 3,400 in accounting and bookkeeping services, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

However, job growth slowed as the COVID-19 pandemic spread through the highly transmissible Omicron variant. Economists had expected a gain of approximately 422,000 jobs for the month. The employment numbers for October and November were revised upward, with the numbers for October going up by 102,000, from 546,000 to 648,000, and the November numbers growing by 39,000, from 210,000 to 249,000. With the growing demand for workers amid a labor shortage, average hourly earnings increased by 19 cents to $31.31. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have gone up 4.7%.

Employment in professional and business services continued to trend upward in December, gaining 43,000 jobs. The main increases in that sector happened in computer systems design and related services (10,000 jobs), architectural and engineering services (9,000 jobs), and scientific research and development services (6,000 jobs). Accounting and bookkeeping services grew by 3,400 jobs...

To read the original article by Michael Cohn from Accounting Today, click here.