Jobs growth slows in December, up 148,000 positions

WASHINGTON — Hiring by U.S. employers slowed a bit as 2017 ended and pay growth was sluggish. Yet that’s actually how investors, at least, like it.

The modest but steady pace of hiring is a reassuring sign for investors who have been buoyed by the justpassed Republican tax plan and have been sending stock market indexes roaring to uncharted heights.

U.S. employers added 148,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department reported yesterday. Though down from November’s 252,000, last month’s job gain was still enough to suggest that the economy entered the new year with solid momentum. The unemployment rate remained 4.1 percent for a third straight month, the lowest level since 2000.

The unspectacular pace of job growth and wage increases is welcome news for financial markets because if the numbers were much higher, investors would grow concerned that the Federal Reserve might accelerate its interest rate hikes to ward off potential increases in inflation.

Higher rates, in turn, could slow the economy and send stocks down.

Taken as a whole, yesterday’s report pointed to the job market’s strength and resilience 81⁄2 years into an economic expansion. Hiring remains steady and is underpinning an economy that is both contributing to and benefiting from an improved global outlook. The tax cuts are raising hopes for faster growth and higher corporate profits and fueling powerful gains in financial markets.

Investors sent stock prices higher again yesterday, one day after the Dow Jones industrial average broke through the 25,000 mark for the first time.