Some 263,000 jobs were created in November, while the unemployment rate was unchanged from the prior month at 3.7%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday.
The jobless rate has been in a narrow range of 3.5% to 3.7% since March, the bureau noted.
Economists had expected an increase of 200,000 jobs in November, and the jobless rate to hold steady at 3.7%, according to a survey by FactSet Research Systems, a financial data firm.
The bureau said that "notable job gains" occurred in the leisure and hospitality, health care and government sectors.
While the November jobs figure exceeded economists' expectations, it fell below the October payroll figure of 284,000 (which was upwardly revised from 261,000).
John Luke Tyner, Fairhope, Ala.-based fixed income analyst at Aptus Capital Advisors, said by email that this report "does not paint the picture of a moderating labor market" and that "higher interest rates aren't impacting the labor economy as much as the market hoped."
This report, he added, "keeps pressure on the Fed to keep hiking and stay tight for longer."
Mr. Tyner also said he expects a 50-basis-point rate hike at the next Fed meeting, unless the next consumer price index report is "something off the charts."
The Fed's current benchmark rate is between 3.75% and 4%.
Aptus has $3.9 billion in assets under management.
Saira Malik, San Francisco-based chief investment officer at Nuveen, said the jobs report reflected a "very tight" labor market, despite a number of recent high-profile layoffs and hiring freezes.
Ms. Malik expects the report will compel the Federal Reserve to continue raising interest rates — probably by 50 basis points at its Dec. 13-14 meeting — and maintain a tighter monetary policy.
Nuveen has about $1.1 trillion in assets under management.
Johan Grahn, Minneapolis-based vice president and head of ETF strategy at Allianz Investment Management, said the jobs report "once again crushed expectations."
"This is bad news for the markets in the short term as it provides more hawkish fuel to the Fed," he noted. "The main takeaway from the jobs report is that interest rates will continue to go higher and stay there for longer. This will force investors to remain acutely focused on risk management and preservation of capital."
Allianz IM has $19.5 billion in AUM.
