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Employers in the United States added 256,000 workers to their payrolls in November, the Department of Labor said Friday, and the unemployment rate declined to 4.1 percent.

Economists had been expecting 153,000 jobs and an unemployment rate unchanged at 4.2 percent. The prior month’s jobs figure was revised down to 212,000 from 227,000.

Most of the job creation in December came from the private sector, which added 223,000 workers. Economists had forecast just 130,000 private sector jobs.

The figures are seasonally adjusted.

Retail trade added 43,000 jobs, more than reversing the decline of 29,000 in November. Leisure and hospitality also added 43,000 jobs, closer to the 2023 monthly average of 47,000 than the 2024 average of 24,000.

Health care added 46,000 jobs and social assistance added 23,000. Those two categories are often described as “government-adjacent” because they are heavily dependent on public sector spending and viewed as less exposed to cyclical economic changes.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.3 percent and are up 3.9 percent compared with a year ago. Economists had forecast year-over-year wage gains of four percent.

The much stronger-than-expected jobs figures is likely to strengthen expectations that the Federal Reserve will not cut interest rates again when it meets later this month. Perhaps more importantly, the resilience of the labor market suggests that the Fed will remain on hold in the months to come.