US economy added a robust 263,000 jobs in November

(CNN) — The US economy added 263,000 jobs in November, defying aggressive action from the Federal Reserve to cool the economy and bring down decades-high inflation.

The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%, according to the latest monthly jobs snapshot from the Labor Department, released Friday morning.

Economists surveyed by Refinitiv had expected the pace of hiring to slow to a gain of only 200,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate to stay flat at 3.7%.

Some of the largest monthly job gains were in the leisure and hospitality sector and health care, according to the report.

The hot jobs report also showed an unexpected spike in average hourly earnings, another knock against the Fed’s efforts to rein in inflation by cooling demand. Officials at the central bank have expressed concern about rising wages keeping inflation elevated.

In November, average hourly earnings increased 0.6% from the month before and 5.1% year over year. Economists were expecting those rates of increases to slow from October, where they increased by a revised 0.5% month-on-month and 4.9% year-over-year.

Friday’s report also contained significant revisions: September was revised down by 46,000 to 269,000 jobs, and October was revised up by 23,000 jobs to 284,000. Considering those updates, November’s monthly gain — which remains considerably above pre-pandemic monthly averages — is now the lowest total jobs added since April 2021.

This story is developing and will be updated.

Related: Utah’s October job report