The U.S. economy added a surprisingly strong 167,000 jobs in December, according to a government report on Friday showing a jump in pay that may fan concerns by policy-makers who fear a strong job market could ignite inflation, Reuters reported. The Labor Department also revised hiring up for each of the two prior months from previous estimates. The unemployment rate in December was 4.5 percent, unchanged from November. Wall Street economists had forecast that only 100,000 new jobs would be created in December, so the report painted a picture of a substantially healthier job market than anticipated as 2006 ended. "The manufacturing side of the economy may be weak, but the rest of the economy is strong and that suggests that we're probably going to see continued good economic growth in the months ahead," said Gary Thayer, chief economist for A.G. Edwards and Sons Inc. in St. Louis. Thayer added that he expected the Federal Reserve to keep U.S. interest rates on hold "for the foreseeable future." U.S. Treasury debt prices fell on the strong report, while the dollar extended gains against the euro as traders raised their bets that the Fed will keep rates on hold at least through March. U.S. stock futures were little changed.
