The US economy added 263,000 jobs in November, well ahead of the 200,000 consensus estimate, even when accounting for a 23,000 downward revision to the past couple of months of data. Private payrolls rose 221,000, led by 88,000 jobs in leisure and hospitality and 82,000 in education and health. Construction was up 20,000 and manufacturing gained 14,000. However, there was weakness in trade & transport (-49,000) and retail trade (-30,000). There was more positive news for workers in the form of big wage gains of 0.6% month-on-month, double what was expected, which leaves the annual rate of wage growth at 5.1%. The ... (full story)