Jobs Day Guide: Focus on Wage Levels Along With U.S. Payrolls

Here’s what to look for when the Labor Department releases the U.S. payrolls report for December at 8:30 a.m. on Friday in Washington.

• The Topline: Last year was a doozy for the American worker. The median forecast of 98 economists surveyed by Bloomberg calls for a 240,000 increase in December payrolls. While smaller than a month earlier, it would put employment gains for 2014 at almost 3 million, the most in 15 years. In November, the economy created 321,000 jobs, the biggest advance since January 2012, with gains across a broad swath of industries.