Hiring pullback could signal mild slowdown

WASHINGTON >> U.S. job growth declined modestly in November, a move that could signal a slower but still steady pace of hiring and growth next year.

Yet most economists said last month’s job gain of 155,000 is more sustainable than some of the larger increases posted earlier this year. And hiring at last month’s pace would make it easier for the Federal Reserve to slow its interest rate increases.

“This is the new Goldilocks,” said Josh Wright, chief economist at iCIMS, a recruiting software company. “Still strong-enough job growth, but a more cautious Fed.”

The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7 percent, a nearly five-decade low, for the third straight month, the Labor Department said Friday in its monthly jobs report.

Average hourly earnings increased 3.1% in November from a year earlier, Friday’s report said, only the second time they have climbed that much since the recession ended nine years ago.