The U.S. economy added 320,000 jobs in November, according to the monthly jobs reports issued on Friday by the Labor Department.
While the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.8 percent from October, the latest report exceeded expectations that the economy would add only 230,000 jobs in November.
During the last 12 months, U.S. job growth has averaged 224,000 per month, suggesting that the pace of the economic recovery is accelerating.
"Job gains were widespread, led by gains in professional and business services, retail trade, health care and manufacturing" the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in the report.
However, the U.S. labor market is still far from healthy, and "Americans are not reaping the full benefits of the growing economy," Elise Gould of the Economic Policy Institute said in a statement.
The U.S. economy has now already added more jobs in 2014 than in any full calendar year since the late 1990s, noted Jason Furman, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, in a statement released by the White House.
The private sector has added 10.9 million jobs over 57 straight months of job growth, extending the longest streak on record, Furman said.