The job market wrapped up 2023 with a surprisingly hot December

• The economy added 216,000 jobs in December.
• That's way more than the forecast of 170,000.
• The US unemployment rate was still 3.7% in December.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday the latest employment and unemployment data, highlighting how the workforce was doing before the new year kicked off.

There were 216,000 nonfarm payrolls added in December, above the forecasted growth of 170,000. The most recent gain was also above November's increase.

November's gain was revised from 199,000 to 173,000. Additionally, October's growth was revised from 150,000 to 105,000.

The unemployment rate stayed the same from November to December at 3.7%. That rate was just below the 3.8% that was expected to be seen for December.

Additionally, the number of quits in November was around the pre-pandemic February 2020 level, per a separate report. There were 3.5 million quits, 8.8 million openings, and 1.5 million layoffs and discharges in November, based on data released Wednesday.

The recent quit data — where quits have broadly been cooling and recently stood around the pre-pandemic mark — could be indicating not as many people are job hopping. Instead, they are part of what could be considered the Big Stay.

As Glassdoor's chief economist Aaron Terrazas explained, that doesn't necessarily mean workers like their work.

"We should not assume that employees are more content in their jobs just because they are staying put," Terrazas said. "In some sense, this is shaping up to be a key challenge for companies in 2024: More employees who aren't necessarily thrilled to be where they are, but also aren't leaving due to the absence of alternatives."

Economists and others will be keeping an eye on whether the Fed will be cutting rates in 2024. The Federal Open Market Committee will meet at the end of January.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.