Unemployment drops to 4.6%, lowest since 2007

The drop in unemployment occurred mostly among men.

Barclays economist Michael Gapen believes the Fed will place more emphasis on the sharply declining unemployment rate and smaller labor force, which “are likely to place further upward pressure on inflation” as employers lift paychecks to attract workers.

“It’s kind of more of the same”, said Jim O’Sullivan, chief United States economist at High Frequency Economics, according to the New York Times.

But wages fell for the first time in almost a year after two straight months of solid increases.

Over the year, Atlanta gained 70,400 jobs, a 2.7 percent growth rate.

He expects “a hefty rebound” in wage growth in December.

Average hourly wages pulled back after two solid advances, falling 3 cents to $25.89. Average hourly wages of permanent employees grew 1.5 percent from a year earlier, slower than the 1.8 percent pace in October.

Analysts had expected Canadian unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 7.0% last month.

Starbucks (SBUX), which gave a wage hike of at least 5% to every barista and manager at all of its USA stores that took effect in October, hiked prices in July after announcing the increase.

The U.S.jobs report on Friday made one thing clear: President-elect Donald Trump will inherit the same two-track U.S. economy that bedeviled his predecessor.

Still, the overall economic picture could inspire the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates during its December meeting.

Eurozone producer prices rose for the second straight month in October, and at a faster-than-expected pace, figures from Eurostat showed Friday. The November report showed an improvement in the number of hours worked compared to prior months, she added.

“We still see a lot of discouraged workers”, said Aparna Mathur, an economist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

The economy this year has added an average of 180,000 jobs a month – more than enough to lower the unemployment rate over time.

The number of new layoffs, measured by initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 107, or 0.9 percent, to 11,542 in October.

The participation rate is near multi-decade lows, partly reflecting demographic change.

Economists have been hoping for sustained wage growth, which would help workers catch up for ground lost during the recession.

Alberta shed 12,800 positions last month – 13,600 of which were full-time jobs.

Wall Street was watching the numbers closely as the first indication of jobs market strength since the November 8 vote. The province has seen job numbers climb 1.5 per cent over the past year. The majority of gains occurred in professional and business services and in health care.