Unemployment Rate Drops to a 5-Year Low

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

November marks the fourth straight month in which the job market has been looking up, the Associated Press reports.

On Friday the Labor Department announced 203,000 added jobs, causing the unemployment rate to dip to 7 percent, a five-year low and down from 7.3 in October, which also saw impressive job gains.

On average, the economy has now produced approximately 204,000 jobs per month from August to November, compared with the 159,000 a month from April to July.

According to the AP, most of last month's job gains were in higher-paying industries, such as construction and manufacturing. 

Advertisement

More hiring in higher-paying jobs could result in increased spending, which, in turn, would boost the economy. However, not everything is looking great. Consumer spending grew at the slowest pace since late 2009, the AP notes.

Advertisement

Still, the economy did expand at an annual rate of 3.6 percent for July to September; the government said on Wednesday that this is the fastest growth since 2012.

Advertisement

Read more at the Los Angeles Times.