The U.S. labor market cooled substantially in 2024, as employers sharply curtailed hiring and workers faced increasing difficulty finding jobs, although there are no signs of a recession.

The U.S. economy created a burst of new jobs in December, capping a solid year of employment growth marked by big gains in healthcare and government payrolls.

Payrolls: 256,000 jobs added in December vs. 153,000 expected, according to economists surveyed by FactSet. Unemployment rate: 4.1%, down from 4.2% in November. Revisions: October