jobs report

It's a sharp drop from the November result of more than 250,000 jobs. With data for December now in, U.S. job growth fell in 2017, to 2.1 million from 2.2 million in 2016.

U.S. jobs growth has averaged 174,000 per month so far in 2017, compared to an average monthly gain of 187,000 in 2016, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says.

One month after large and destructive storms disrupted the U.S. economy, job creation rebounded somewhat and the unemployment rate fell again.

The decline in employment, the first in years, comes after 83 months of job growth. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that the data probably show the short-term effect of recent hurricanes.

The Labor Department also cut previous estimates for job growth in June and July by 41,000.

The U.S. economy added jobs in health care, social assistance, financial activities and mining. But wage growth hasn't topped 4 percent since 2008.

The national unemployment rate nudged lower to 4.3 percent — the lowest it has been in 16 years.

The unemployment rate for black workers has now dropped below 8 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says. Some of April's biggest job gains came in hospitality, health care and social assistance.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, rose just slightly, ticking up a tenth of a percentage point to 4.8 percent. Average hourly wages increased by 3 cents.

Over the course of 2016, average hourly earnings rose 2.9 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says. The unemployment rate was little changed: 4.7 percent, compared to 4.6 percent in November.