WASHINGTON—The U.S. job market strengthened in November, as hiring jumped and unemployment fell, adding fuel to the economic expansion.
Employers added 266,000 jobs in November and the jobless rate fell to a 50-year low of 3.5%, matching September’s level, the Labor Department said Friday. Wages advanced 3.1% from a year earlier.
The stronger pace of hiring could help juice up the broader U.S. economy, which is still expanding but at a slower pace than last year. U.S. stock futures and government-bond yields rose Friday after the data was released.
Hiring was strong in health care, restaurants and transportation jobs. In November, manufacturers added 54,000 jobs, 41,000 of which were in auto manufacturing. General Motors Co. workers, who were on strike in October, helped drive the bounceback.
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“Today’s jobs report should assuage some of the biggest market concerns about the U.S. economy,” Jason Schenker of Prestige Economics said in an analyst note.
U.S. employers have picked up the pace of hiring. Jobs have grown an average 205,000 per month in the three months through November, a pickup from the pace earlier in the year but less than 223,000 per month for the same period a year ago.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a gain of 187,000 new jobs in November, a 3.6% unemployment rate and 3% annual wage growth. Payrolls for October and September were revised up by 41,000.
The Federal Reserve has cut interest rates three times this year on worries that weakness in trade, business investment and manufacturing could derail economic growth by triggering cutbacks in spending and hiring. The central bank, which meets next week to discuss interest rates, has signaled it was done cutting rates unless it sees a significant slowdown in economic activity.
Gross domestic product, a broad measure of goods and services across the economy, increased at a 2.1% annual rate in the third quarter, down from a 2.9% rate for 2018 as a whole. Meanwhile, U.S. manufacturing activity has cooled, a reflection of trade-war uncertainty and a global manufacturing slowdown.
Overall, though, the economy has continued to grow, and many employers report steady or growing demand for workers.
Still, historically low unemployment hasn’t translated into an acceleration in wage growth. Average hourly earning increased 7 cents last month to $28.29. Wages were up 3.1% from a year earlier, lower than a recent peak of 3.4% in February. The gains well outpace inflation, but are modest relative to other periods with historically low unemployment.
There are various reasons why wages might not be growing faster, including lackluster productivity growth and the retirement of highly paid baby boomers.
The share of Americans working or seeking work eased in November. The so-called labor-force participation rate declined to 63.2% in November after reaching a six-year high in October.
A larger pool of available workers could help fill employers’ demand for workers at a time of low unemployment.
Mosquito Joe, a pest-control franchise based out of Virginia Beach, Va., was flooded with new orders for its services this summer. Bulking up with office managers and new employees to spray pesticides in yards proved more challenging than years past, said Lou Schager, president of Mosquito Joe.
“We’re having more candidates applying, and then not showing up for the interview,” Mr. Schager said. “They think they can be more selective.”
To make sure that staff will return during the busier summer months, some Mosquito Joe locations are keeping workers on through the winter, even if it is just a few days a month to maintain equipment or connect with customers. Franchisees have raised wages by at least 3% and offered bonuses to workers, Mr. Schager said.
Write to Sarah Chaney at sarah.chaney@wsj.com and Amara Omeokwe at amara.omeokwe@wsj.com
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