US job creation slowed under Trump in 2019 to the lowest growth in 8 years
America’s solid job creation continued in December but gains in for 2019 were the lowest in eight years, according to the closely-watched government report released Friday.
After a decade of rising employment, hiring last year slowed notably from the brisk pace seen in 2018: With 2.1 million jobs created, that made 2019 the weakest year since 2011, according to the Labor Department data.
The economy added an average of 175,000 new positions a month last year, a sharp drop from the 225,000 monthly average in the prior year.
The decline — which is not unusual after such a long stretch of brisk hiring — still could tarnish President Donald Trump’s economic record as he battles to win re-election in November.
In the final month of the year, the US jobs engine added another 145,000 new positions, the slowest pace in seven months and a bit short of economists’ expectations.
The unemployment rate held steady at 3.5 percent, remaining at a 50-year low, according to the report.
The ailing manufacturing sector, driven into recession by Trump’s multi-front trade wars and a sluggish global economy, shed workers for third time in 2019.
But retailers, hotels, bars, restaurants, education, construction and health care led hiring last month, showing the resilience of America’s dominant service sector.
Worker pay was a disappointment, rising only 2.9 percent compared to December 2018 — the first time that measure has fallen below three percent since July 2018.
That still put wage gains well above consumer inflation for the period, leaving workers with more cash to spend.
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