Employers added 216,000 jobs in December 2023, according to the latest jobs report, while the unemployment rate stayed at 3.7%. This number exceeded estimates which anticipated an addition of only 175,000 jobs. Is this a sign of things to come for the labor market in the new year?

Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su joins Yahoo Finance Reporter Jennifer Schonberger to discuss the jobs report and the potential for a normalization of steady job growth.

"The idea of things normalizing is a good way to paint what is happening, but they're also normalizing in a way that President Biden said was possible, and many people thought was not, which is, record job growth... combined with report low levels of strong sustained unemployment, combined with wage growth," Secretary Su says. adding: "And currently wage growth that is outpacing inflation, so that workers really feel it in the pocketbooks, families can feel some more financial security. This is the Bidenomics in action."

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Editor's note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino.

Video Transcript

- Fed Chair Powell said in December during his press conference that he thinks that the era of frantic job shortages are behind us, and that we're seeing job openings come back to a more normalized level. Do you agree with that? Or do you think there's more that needs to be done for the job market to come back into balance?

JULIE SU: I think the idea of things normalizing is a good way to paint what is happening. But they're also normalizing in a way that President Biden said was possible and many people thought was not, which is record job growth-- we're 14.2 million jobs created-- combined with record-low levels of strong, sustained unemployment, combined with wage growth, all of these things.

And currently, right, wage growth that is outpacing inflation, so that workers really feel it in their pocketbooks. Families can feel some more financial security. So yeah, this is Bidenomics in action, right? It's the idea that we can build that kind of economy.

We've seen it happen over an incredible recovery since President Biden came into office. And looking over at 2023, I think the numbers answer the question. And we want to continue that steady, stable growth in jobs at not the breakneck speed that we saw in 2022, but more at the pace that we saw throughout 2023.

- Switching gears, I want to ask you about artificial intelligence because there are a lot of concerns about this in Washington about hiring biases being institutionalized, job killing. The Labor Department recently held a forum back in December on the pros and cons of AI. What did you learn? And how is the Labor Department prepared to ensure that I can help actually boost the job market?