Jobless Rate Rises Off 30-Year Low

The jobless rate inched up to 4 percent from the previous month's 3.9 percent, which had been a three-decade low.

Payrolls outside the farm sector rose 94,000 after a downwardly revised 77,000 gain in October, the Labor Department said in its monthly jobs report, one of the most closely watched gauges of the U.S. economy's strength.

October's increase was previously reported as 137,000. November's payroll number fell short of the expectations of U.S. economists, who had projected payrolls growth of 140,000.

Financial markets welcomed the report, which investors said strengthened their belief that a slowing economy may prompt the Federal Reserve to cut key interest rates next year to ensure a much-awaited slowdown does not deteriorate into a recession.

The recent subdued growth in payrolls and the move higher in the unemployment rate would seem to add to arguments for lowering interest rates in the near future. But offsetting that in the November report was a 0.4 percent jump in average hourly earnings, which had been forecast to rise by 0.3 percent.

The author is a Reuters news writer.