Economists expected U.S. employers to have added 164,000 jobs in December

U.S. hiring cooled in December, as the economy added 145,000 jobs, ending the decade on a weaker-than-expected note.

The final payroll number of 2019 missed the estimate of 164,000 from economists surveyed by Refinitiv, who also saw the unemployment rate holding steady from November's 3.5 percent.

It marks the 111th month of straight gains.

Unemployment remained at 3.5 percent, a half-century low, as more people were looking for work, the Labor Department said Friday. The labor force participation rate was little changed at 63.2 percent. Average hourly earnings, meanwhile, rose by 2.9 percent over the past year to $28.32 -- the weakest annual pace since 2018.

The latest figure brings the 2019 total to 2.11 million, the lowest amount since 2011 when the economy added 2.09 million jobs. In 2018, the economy added 2.63 million jobs, the most in three years.

In 2019, job growth on average was slower than it was in 2018: The monthly average between January and November last year is 180,000 jobs per month, compared with an average gain of 223,000 in 2018. Read more at FOX Business