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A dominant jobs report

On the surface, today's jobs report was great news — employers added 321,000 jobs in November.

Dig a little bit deeper, though, and you see even more good news.

  • Revisions: Both the September and October employment estimates were revised upwards, adding another 44,000 jobs.
  • Wages: Average hourly wages for private sector workers rose 9 cents, a nice boost to people's living standards.
  • Hours: The average workweek got slightly longer, boosting up to 34.6 hours, a further indicator of labor force demand.
  • History: November jobs reports are normally subject to unusually large upward revisions in subsequent months, so this could be an undercount.
  • Oil: This report surely reflects some of the upside to the US economy from the collapse in oil prices, but that really happened too recently to be a big driver. When that cheap gas hits the economy, though, it's going to add fuel to the fire.