"Strong wage growth is expected to be seen in the November jobs report," said Mark Hamrick, a senior analyst for Bankrate. "Workers are welcoming higher pay but are also struggling amid high inflation while seeking better working conditions including flexible hours and the ability to work remotely such as from home, when and where possible."<\/p>\n
The projected gain of 550,000 jobs could solidify a decision by Federal Reserve officials later this month to speed up the wind-down of emergency economic assistance – something that Chairman Jerome Powell hinted at this week while testifying before Congress. Powell suggested that as the economy confronts the highest inflation level in decades, central bank policymakers may accelerate the tapering of their bond-buying program.<\/p>\n
FILE – In this Sept. 22, 2021, file photo, a hiring sign is placed at a booth for Jameson’s Irish Pub during a job fair in the West Hollywood section of Los Angeles.\u00a0<\/span> ((AP Photo\/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File) \/ AP Newsroom)<\/span><\/p>\n That could mean the Fed's bond-buying program ends sooner than expected, potentially leading to a faster-than-expected interest rate hike. The central bank has been purchasing $120 billion in bonds each month throughout most of the pandemic in order to keep credit cheap and stabilize the financial markets. In November, Fed officials announced plans to scale back the program by $15 billion a month, a timeline that would end the program by late June. <\/p>\n Goldman Sachs economists expect the Fed to double the pace of tapering its bond purchases to $30 billion beginning in January, putting the central bank on track to wind down the program by mid-March. <\/p>\n "At this point, the economy is very strong, and inflationary pressures are high," Powell said Tuesday before the Senate Finance Committee. "It is therefore appropriate in my view to consider wrapping up the taper of our asset purchases, which we actually announced at our November meeting, perhaps a few months sooner." <\/p>\n FILE – In this Sept. 30, 2021, file photo, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington.\u00a0<\/span> (Sarah Silbiger\/Pool Photo via AP, File \/ Associated Press)<\/span><\/p>\n The data comes before the emergence of the newly identified omicron variant of COVID-19, which poses a potential threat to the global economy's recovery.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxbusiness.com\/foxbusiness.com\/content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/931\/523\/jobs-32.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
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