New Jobs Data 'All the Ammo' Fed Needs to Raise Rates

The Labor Department is out with what CNBC calls "one of the most anticipated unemployment reports of the year"—and its results have analysts more sure than ever that the Fed will raise interest rates later this month. Employers added 211,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate held steady at 5%, reports the AP. The growth numbers aren't as strong as last month, but the gist seems to be that they're good enough to convince Janet Yellen to raise rates at the Fed's Dec. 15-16 meeting, which would be the first increase in nine years.

"This is all the ammo [needed] for the Fed to hike," writes Paul Vigna at the Wall Street Journal. "Highly likely," writes Christopher Rugaber at the AP. Also helping: The Fed revised last month's number of added jobs from 271,000 up to 298,000. (More jobs report stories.)