U.S. employment increased at a healthy pace in November, in another sign of the economy's resilience, and will most likely be followed by the first Federal Reserve interest rate rise in a decade later this month.
Nonfarm payrolls rose 211,000 last month, the U.S. Labor Department said on Friday. The September and October data were revised to show 35,000 more jobs than previously reported.
The unemployment rate held at a 7½-year low of 5.0 percent, as people returned to the labor force in a sign of confidence in the jobs market. The jobless rate is in a range many Fed officials see as consistent with full employment and has dropped seven-tenths of a percentage point this year.