Here’s what you need to know about Friday before you hit the door. Employment numbers The Department of Labor will release its employment numbers for December before the market opens. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect nonfarm payrolls to grow by 160,000. That would be a slowdown from November, when the economy added 266,000 jobs with an unemployment rate of 3.5%. Job growth averaged 180,000 per month through the first 11 months of 2019. The report could mark the 11th consecutive month below 4% unemployment. November’s jobs growth was boosted by a rise in manufacturing employment, due partially to the end of a ... (full story)