While the news out of Wall Street continues to be not so tweetable for President Trump, the Bureau of Labor Statistics unveiled some welcome numbers on Friday: Job growth surged by 312,000 in December. The “Trump Boom” economy also produced an historic number for Hispanics, who enjoyed record-low unemployment in December.
“Job creation ended 2018 on a powerful note, with nonfarm payrolls surging by 312,000 in December though the unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent,” CNBC reports. While the jobless rate rose last month, CNBC notes, it “rose for the right reason as 419,000 new workers entered the workforce and the labor force participation rate increased to 63.1 percent.” Rising by 0.2% over November, the participation level ended the year at 0.4% higher than last year.
Along with the solid across-the-board numbers, Hispanic unemployment tied an all-time low in December. The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Hispanics and Latinos (aged 16+) dropped to 4.4%, down 0.1% from November and tying the record low first set in October, a number never before attained, dating all the way back to 1973 when BLS first began tracking the number.
Among the positive numbers for Hispanics is the demographic’s labor force participation rate, which climbed to 67% (29,963,000, up over 140,000 from the previous month) with the number of employed hitting 27,701,000 (up 177,000 from November). The number of unemployed dropped by 35,000 to 1,261,000. – READ MORE